The Path
by youllstartariotbarbarella
Summary: Caroline had always been told that monsters lay beyond the Path. Demons and beasts lay in wait to gobble her up. But it wasn't until she met one, the worst monster of them all, that Caroline realized just how dangerous the forest beyond the Path could be. A retelling of Little Red Riding Hood. AU the lovely graphic was done by the amazingly talented Jen.
1. Chapter 1: A Journey North

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

* * *

**Burn in the summer, walk under water now,  
With the white wolves, with the white wolves.  
How do you want me, how do you want me now?  
****Minds are going to walk on paths formed by the sun,  
****With the white wolves, with the white wolves.  
****Minds are going wild like dogs in every town.**

**- Bravestation, White Wolves**

* * *

The light came in through the cottage window soft and blue through the trees that surrounded the village on all sides. It crept across the ground and through the leaves quietly and then filtered in through the glass pane to crawl across Elena's pale sweating forehead. The light did not reach the little blond girl sitting at Elena's bedside. She was left in the dim shadows.

"This sucks," Caroline said her legs swinging back and forth as she leaned back into her chair, "you never get sick, Lena."

Caroline wore a look of utter discontent. Her little nose was scrunched up and her thin pink lips were tangled into a pout that would have made anyone want to smooth her out. Elena on the other hand, even in sickness, wore an expression of perpetual impartiality. Her dark skin had paled with fever. Her brow was covered in sweat but the young girl maintained an air of placidity.

"You make it sound like it's my fault," Elena croaked from her bed, "it was yours and Tyler's stupid games that got me stuck in the well."

Tyler Lockwood and Caroline Forbes fancied themselves quite the tricky pair. Children would be children and they would always have their games but Tyler and Caroline had always taken a greater pleasure in the execution of a trick well played. It could not be helped when something went slightly awry. In Elena's case her friends had played a prank that ended up with her down a well with two broken fingers. And then of course there was the flu that followed.

"We said sorry," Caroline said pouting, "and 'sides I'm paying for it. I have to go take the weekly offering to the witches."

Caroline crossed her thin arms over her chest, tilted her chin downwards and glare. It was a thing she had seen her mother do many times before when she was faced with something of which she did not approve.

"Don't call it that, Care. It's a gift to show our appreciation for their protection," she said through labored breath.

Elena was the more complacent of the two, always willing to accept the rules even when no explanation was given. Caroline on the other hand could never stand all of the regulations and dictum that saturated even the most mundane of tasks. It all seemed useless to her. When she asked her questions, the unwillingness from the adults around her only proved that point. Though they had known each other since infancy Elena and Caroline were as different as night and day.

"Protection from _what_, Lena?"

"I don't know but the wood is dangerous, you know that, Care."

And she did. Caroline and Elena were only twelve but knew better than most girls that monsters walked the Earth. They grew up on stories of darkness, evil, and danger of the things that lurked out beyond the boundaries of the village's protection. The world that lay beyond the Path was perilous. And though there was never any talk of what was out there hiding in the fallen shadow of the trees beyond the Path it was known something lurked in depths of the forest. It had always been known that there was something out there, something terrible.

"All I'm saying is it's weird how we always have to take them stuff," Caroline said, "why don't they ever come into the village?"

Elena rolled her eyes at her friend. Sometimes she envied her friend. They seemed like two sides of a coin and while Caroline could be as whimsical and candid as she please, Elena was to be responsibly, tactful. She understood that some things just _were_ and needed no explanation. The witches never came into the village simply because they didn't. Caroline, however, could never accept things at face value. The girl younger girl was always inquiring or searching. It left an uneasy feeling in the belly of those who were subjected to her questioning. Caroling tended to speak her mind without much censor and thought little of the consequences.

"You ask too many questions," Elena mumbled then closed her eyes, "why don't you tell me a story instead of complaining so much."

Caroline bit her lip her quick. Her mouth was already full with a retort but she kept quiet and swallowed her response. Her friend was sick. She was tired. There was no need to keep Elena up any longer with her chatter of the world beyond the Path. Instead Caroline leaned forward onto the bed and laid her head besides her friend's feverish body. She took in a great breath and began to spin a tale.

"Once upon a time there was a girl who loved a wolf."

As the words pour from her, Caroline knew that Elena would be fine. Caroline knew that as sure as her hair was yellow, Elena would be fine, hadn't she always been? But as the story deepened and the plot thickened sticking to her lips like honey, an uneasiness began to shiver through her bones. She felt it shake down into the marrow. Never before had Caroline been outside of their village down the marked path that connected their community to the next and then to the next all throughout the forest, all bound together. Caroline felt the shiver press into her spine and perhaps for the first time in her life, Caroline was truly afraid.

* * *

There were two exits from the village directly across from one another. One cut through the forest going North and the other South. In the mid-morning sun Caroline stood before the one that led North. She eyed the rough stretch of marked earth calculating her chances of getting out of her predicament but found that she was out of luck. Caroline would not admit it but as she stared down the Path and into the thick forest she felt more fear than she had ever felt before in her entire life. Her breath went heavy in her throat and her mouth felt full of cotton. Caroline knew that she was being unreasonable. In theory she had nothing to fear. Many men and women traveled along the Path, Elena made the trip down to the Witch's cottage once every week. Hunters had to leave the Path during in search of game. Healers foraged beyond the Path for the flora and fauna that aided their practice but Caroline was neither hunter nor healer. She was only a girl.

"Don't worry too much, Care," Tyler said besides her, "if you stick to the Path nothing can hurt you."

Caroline nodded and smiled at her friend but she couldn't shake the feeling that it was not that simple. Tyler, though she loved him dearly, was not exactly the most cunning person she had ever met. He, like Elena, never questioned the things they had been told of the Path and those that protected it. The world was simple to Tyler Lockwood, black and white. He was convinced that it would always be that way. Then, as if remembering something very important, Caroline's attention snapped back to the village behind her. Her eyes searched earnestly for something that she could not find. Tyler noticed.

"If you're looking for Matt he told me to tell you good luck," Tyler said then put a comforting hand on her shoulder, "he's tending to Elena."

It wasn't hard for him to tell that Caroline was upset by the news. He also knew that he was the only one coming to see her off. The four of them, Caroline, Tyler, Elena and Matt, had all grown up together and lines between them were clearly cut. Matt had loved Elena the moment he saw her and Caroline had wanted Matt all her life and Tyler was caught between them all. He could see clearly the futility of Caroline's affection for the Donovan boy but had not the heart to discourage her.

Caroline knew that also somewhere deep down. Perhaps her love was actually only silly infatuation, a childish longing for something she could never have but Caroline could not shake it. Sometimes she felt that she had been born starving for something she could not name. Her mother never looked at her even when to punish or reprimand her. Caroline's father had long since disappeared down the Path that led to the South. She had been lonely her whole life and she thought that maybe if she could have Matt that would soothe her solitude.

Though she was not completely alone. She had Tyler and she was grateful for that if only because he knew her loneliness better than most. His parents never looked at him either. Besides, Tyler was sweet when he tried and could always make her laugh. Caroline supposed she might even bring herself to love him one day more so than Matt if she tried. Tyler believed that he loved her already. So they had made a pact. Two children unpicked and unloved, they promised to never abandon each other even in the face of certain death. Always there would be at least one person in the world who would mourn them if they were gone. Maybe Tyler and Caroline would never know true love or romance but they would have loyalty.

"Well I guess I better go," Caroline said after a few more moments, "don't want to ruin Elena's perfect track record."

She had tried not to sound so bitter but the look on Tyler's face told her she failed. It wasn't that she didn't love Elena. Of course she did just as much as everyone else in the village did. Loving Elena never seemed to be a choice. It was the default. That didn't mean that she wasn't the slightest bit jealous.

"Sorry I didn't mean for that to sound so…" Caroline trailed off because she had no idea how to finish that sentence.

Tyler only shook his head to express that he didn't mind. There was to be no judgment between them. That was promised as well.

"Just stick to the Path and you'll be fine, Care," Tyler leaned in to give her a reassuring hug.

She pulled away thinking 'easy for you to say you've done this before'. Even Tyler had traveled outside of the village limits with the men on their hunts. With a great sigh Caroline started forward but was stopped by a hand on her wrist. She turned back to Tyler confused. Quickly he placed a kiss upon the crown of her head. It was a clumsy action, his lips crashing a bit too harsh, a bit to brash. He had only kissed her once before but with time and practice Tyler fancied that he would become quite good at it. When he pulled back, he grinned widely down at her. Caroline felt something expand in the pit of her stomach at the look in his eyes. It was not a horrible feeling but she couldn't bring herself to smile back.

"Well go on," he said his dark eyes dancing with laughter. "Don't wanna be late."

She glared at his teasing but resisted the urge to stick out her tongue. Scrunching her nose up in distaste, Caroline gathered her basket closer and started quickly down the path. By the time she even thought to look back she could see neither the village nor Tyler through the trees.

* * *

Caroline yawned and swung her basket to and fro. The Path was nowhere near as terrible as she thought it would be. In fact she liked the feeling of walking forward. The village was not by any means a horrible place to live. In fact it was really very nice with good sturdy houses and a decent amount of space to play and run around. The village was a good place but there was a certain quality to walking forward with what seemed like an infinite stretch of ground before her that Caroline enjoyed. For the first time Caroline realized that there were places to go.

So caught up in those new and astonishing thoughts Caroline did not hear the sound of another coming down the Path. Naturally when she did it was too late not to be taken by surprise.

"Hello there," said a voice.

Caroline screamed. Not a very loud scream or a very shrill one at least by Caroline's standards. As for the man he had no idea the girl would react in such a way and if he were to be honest he would say that he too let out a small shriek of surprise as well.

"Oh my goodness," Caroline breathed.

She glanced down to see that she had dropped her basket. The contents of it, a couple loaves of bread, a great jar of preservatives and a bottle of sweet cider had all fallen onto the ground. Immediately she dropped to gather the items together. Then stopped and jumped her feet.

"What's your problem?" she said her face flushed now with shame, "you nearly sacred the piss outta me."

At first Mason could do nothing but stare at the young girl in confusion and a bit in awe. Never before had someone reacted to him with such vigor. Then getting a grip on the situation again he dropped to one knee and began to gather the girl's things together. Caroline looked horribly uncomfortable with the stranger kneeled before her so she dropped down to her knees as well hoping that would make things less strange. It did not.

"I'm sorry," Mason said placing a still-warm loaf of bread into the basket, "I thought you heard me coming. You shouldn't walk so leisurely in the forest."

Caroline rolled her eyes. How many times had she heard such rhetoric? It was impossible to keep track.

"I was doing just fine, thank you before you showed up," she snipped as she retrieved the bottle of cider and jam and replaced it in her basket.

"That's the point," Mason replied, "that's why it's dangerous. You'd have never been able to defend yourself against me. If I had not announced myself you probably never would have noticed me."

Caroline did not like the way he said that. In fact she hated it when anyone took such a cryptic tone. Suddenly Caroline became hyper aware of the stranger before her. She inspected every bit of him she could see. She could have sworn that she'd never seen him before in her life but there was something familiar about him. Perhaps it was something in the angle of his jaw or the shade of his hair that gave her the strangest feeling that she knew him from before. It made her uneasy.

"Isn't that the point of the Path?" Caroline said keeping up an illusion of fearlessness, "to keep us all safe from the evils of the forest, to keep out the monsters?"

"No such luck I'm afraid," Mason replied a slow smirk cutting across his face.

And that's when Caroline realized of whom he reminded her.

"Are you a Lockwood?" she blurted out.

She immediately felt foolish as Mason's grin grew wider until he let out a soft chuckle. His light eyes glittered like dusty jewels at the bottom of a box. He had not laughed in a long time.

"Mason Lockwood," he replied, "you must be from the village just beyond. I'm visiting my brother and his family there."

Caroline nodded slowly still wary of this so-called Mason Lockwood. He could be lying. He could be insane. He could have been a murderer. He could be an insane murderer on his way to massacre the entire village. Caroline instantly cut off that train of thought catching herself before her ideas became too foolish. Her mind could wander so carelessly down dangerous paths. It would do her no good to dwell on those strange thoughts but still she sent up a prayer to anyone that would listen to keep her friends safe.

"Well that's nice but I'm going somewhere," she said feeling very awkward now with her bizarre, heavy thoughts, "and I don't want to be late."

"Right! 'course," he said he moved to the side to get out of her way, "be careful out there. Even the Path has its dangers."

Caroline only nodded in the response and carried on. She did glance back every two seconds just to make sure he was indeed carrying on in the opposite direction. His words worried her and she spent the rest of the walk in silent fear of what she may encounter. In the end she made it to the Witch's cottage with encountering anyone.

* * *

The witch's cottage was an old dark structure made from clay and dirt long before Caroline had been born. It was ancient. The shackles of the roof were bleached from black to a bright rusty red. A small yard and garden surrounded the cottage. Around that there was a low wooden fence that was only breached by a gate that opened to a narrow trail that branched from the Path. It seemed to be a kind of enough place but Caroline could not help but be a tad bit nervous.

She took a deep breath. Elena had always spoken very little of the witches. When she did speak of them she was always vague as if she herself did not know very much about them or her time spent with them. Elena had never mentioned if they were ugly or strange or mean. She had never said that they were especially kind either. All she would say of them was that they were an interesting kind of people. After letting exhaling and feeling only slightly irritated at herself for being afraid, Caroline took the last steps towards the cottage, through the gate and stood before the door. She was about to knock when a voice called from inside.

"Elena, girl, you're late."

The door creaked open to reveal an older woman. She was beautiful. That was Caroline's first thought. The woman was taller than Caroline perhaps five or six inches. She was dark like the outside of her cottage with fine high cheekbones and delicate brows. Her lips were full and a dusty pink against her dark skin. Her hair was deep gray with wisps of stark white curling through the swirling mass that sat atop her head pulled back tightly from her face. She was a very striking sight.

"I'm not Elena," Caroline managed to say.

"Obviously," the woman replied and suddenly Caroline felt ashamed feeling that she had severely disappointed the beautiful woman.

Caroline was amazed that even the woman's voice was beautiful. She imagined the rich sound of it flowing through the air like cool calm water over river stones. Never before had she ever seen a woman like the one before her. Then suddenly in a flurry of loose-fitting robes and curling gray hair the woman turned and retreated back into the depths of the cottage. Caroline shifted from one foot to another unsure of whether she was to enter or not. A flush of heat came over her cheeks. Again she felt that pang of guilt. The woman had been expecting Elena but had got Caroline instead. How terribly disappointing.

"Well don't just stand out there all day," the woman called, "come in or go back."

Needing no further invitation, Caroline dashed forward over the threshold.

"Stop!" the Witch exclaimed.

Caroline froze mid-step.

"Take off your shoes."

Caroline made a face but did as she was told. Setting her cargo down on the low stone step that rose up from the dirt to meet the doorframe, she began to work at the laces of her boots. After a minute or so her feet were free of both her socks and boots and she entered the witch's home.

"I'm sorry," was the first thing Caroline could think to say.

She made her way from the door to stand at what was roughly the middle of a strange cottage and the only free space. The cottage was made up of only one large room that contained all of the furniture and belongings. To Caroline's left seemed to be a sort of kitchen area. A pitch-black stove sat darkly in the corner, the space around it blackened by soot and heat. A large table was besides that pressed up against the wall. Upon it sat the strangest things. There were jars filled with creatures of all kinds submerged in some kind of goo the color of the sky and some were the color of sunset in the middle of the winter.

Great tomes were also amongst the items that sat upon the great table. Some were bound beautifully while others were beaten and worn. Flowers and herbs sat in piles upon a shelf just above the table and in jars as well and some were in boxes of both clay and paper. There were many _things_ in the cottage. Caroline knew of no other word to describe what she saw upon the shelves, tables, and floors of the home. From the ceiling mobiles dangled from strings. Some glittered like the sunlight on clear water while others were made of dull bone and there were others still, made of materials that Caroline could not even begin to name.

Across the room was the fireplace. A cluster of furniture surrounded it, a couple of large cushioned chairs angled towards the fireplace, a small table between them surrounded by even more books. A tall wooden stood was placed against the wall besides the fireplace. There were two long beds neatly made squashed up against the adjacent wall to the hearth. The Witch had take a seat in one of the cushioned chairs, the red one, while the other chair remained empty. Looking around at the many items Caroline came to realize that there was only one other person living in the cottage. There were two of all the personal items that peppered the cottage.

"Why?" the Witch said startling Caroline from her attentions to the details of the home.

Caroline's eyes snapped across the room to where the old woman sat. The Witch was angled so that Caroline could only see half of her face.

"Why what?" Caroline said quietly her cheeks no longer burning with embarrassment.

She had been too busy marveling at the oddities before her to remember to feel ashamed.

"Why were you sorry?"

Caroline's face scrunched up in thought. Her eyebrows came together as if stitched to the center of her forehead on an invisible string. The pout on her lips was twisted at an inquisitive angle. Many times people had asked Caroline if she was sorry. The answer was usually no. They then proceeded to tell her when she _should_ be sorry but no one had ever told her _why_ she should be sorry. She wasn't aware that one needed a reason.

"Well," Caroline considered the Witch's question, "you were expecting Elena to bring you your things from the village. When you saw me you seemed disappointed. I was sorry for that, I suppose."

The Witch laughed. It was a deep husky sound that sent low vibrations through the air. Caroline could feel them run through her. The air in the cottage was suddenly heavy with the Witch's mirth. Caroline even fancied she could taste that laughter. It had a deep flavor of spice and darkness. It tasted of the copper and of the smoke of scorched earth just after lightning had struck. The Witch's laugher tasted of power.

"So you are sorry for not being another?" the Witch said after her laughter had ceased, "only a child would apologize for such a thing."

Caroline kept her eyes to the ground. She felt small. Never before had she ever felt so small. Surely being a child was exactly what Caroline was supposed to do. Only she didn't feel like a child. At the Witch's words and the tone they took Caroline could not help but feel like she was fool. The Witch saw Caroline's expression and smiled. She truly did enjoy children and their habit of swinging violently between the extremes of hubris and absolute shame. It was always a gamble.

"Come, child. Come closer. Do not be ashamed. The price of youth is ignorance."

Caroline pulled her lips into a tight crinkle across her face but she did as she was told. She moved across the room her basket still in hand. The Witch waited patiently for the yellow-haired child shuffle closer.

"You may put that basket besides the other chair," the Witch said, "my apprentice will be back soon and she will take care of it."

Caroline nodded but did not make a sound as she set her cargo down. She fiddled with the sleeve of her dress and shifted her weight from one foot to the other. The smooth stone of the floor felt cold against her feet. A nervous energy had crept up into her skin. Never before had Caroline felt so intimidated by an adult. She had always shown no fear in the face of their praise and censure alike but standing before the Witch, Caroline felt for the first time some shame for her youth. She felt bashful.

"Don't look so frightened, sweet girl," the Witch chided gently.  
It is not in your nature I can tell."

Then as if to prove the Witch's words right Caroline snapped her face up to look the Witch straight in the eye. She straightened her back and set her shoulders into a rigid line. Although she still felt the burning of hot blood rushing to her cheeks, Caroline found some relief in her bold display of childish bravery.

"That's better," the older woman crooned.

A smile appeared stretching the dark skin of her face. Wrinkles gathered at the sharp corners of her mouth and at the places where her eyes smiled. Caroline had never seen such beauty.

"Now listen closely for I am going to tell you a truth. Very few people will ever tell you the truth in this world, dear girl but I swear upon the dark earth from which all life rose and the North Wind that breathes eternal over this land that what I will tell you now is the truth."

The Witch looked at her expectantly and Caroline nodded in earnest. The Witch motioned for Caroline to lean in closer and closer she leaned.

"No Thing ever apologizes for being exactly what it was made to be, monster and man alike. And if they do they are lying. Never trust a thing that would apologize for its purpose. Such things are full of tricks and darkness."

Caroline nodded her eyes growing with wonder at the woman's words. No one had ever spoken to Caroline with such conviction. What a new thing it was to be told the truth.

"So never apologize for such a thing as being what you are and never ask for another to apologize for that. You will only ever find yourself dissatisfied or betrayed. Now tell me why is it you have come to me today and not the Gilbert girl?"

"Uh, yea," Caroline mumbled still distracted by the weight of the Witch's words, "um she got sick."

Caroline cast a glance to the ground as she said the word 'sick' partially out of guilt but also because she wished to hide the tiny twitch of the corner of her lips. Caroline was still quite proud of the trick she and Tyler had played even if it had gone slightly awry. However, the Witch saw her mischievous smile and replied with a grin. The girl was a wicked thing.

The Witch inspected Caroline closely. There were no coincidences in life. The powers that be would never leave the destiny of witches and children in the hands of something as fickle as chance. There was a reason Caroline had come into her home that day. The girl was marked. The Witch could feel it.

"And who are you?"

"Caroline, Caroline Forbes. I'm Elena's best friend," Caroline said with pride.

"Ah! Good," the Witch replied, "then you would have no trouble delivering something to your best friend for me."

Caroline paused her eyes narrowing in thought. She considered the Witch's words very closely.

"What will you give me if I do?"

This time the Witch's laughter came out as a bark of amusement. It was clear like fresh running water or the blue sky in summer.

"What an intelligent little thing you are Caroline," she said then fell into thought, "hmmm what can I give you in return. Do you like stories, clever girl?"

Caroline's face lit up with excitement. If there was anything Caroline loved it was her hair but besides that she loved stories the most.

"I love stories," she exclaimed grinning so wide that she was sure her face would split in two.

"Then in return for doing me a favor you shall have a story," the Witch said, "does that sound fair?"

Caroline nodded with enthusiasm the yellow curls upon her head bouncing as she did so. The Witch motioned for her to sit upon the other chair and then began her tale.

**A/N: Hullo so it may seem a little Forwood right now but as a warning THIS IS NOT FORWOOD I repeat this is not Forwood. It will eventually become Klaroline so if you're looking for Forwood as a romance then perhaps this is not the choice for you.**

**So I'm putting this at the bottom cuz it doesn't really matter but just in case anyone wanted to know this story was heavily influenced by a film from the 80s called "the Company of Wolves" it is seriously one of my favorite movies despite the fractured storyline and creepy protagonist. The movie was very fairytale-esque so expect that element to be in this fic. **

**Um...also this fic is part of a trilogy. This first part will only have two chapters and an interlude but the next part will be a lot longer. So keep your eyes open for that. Aaaaand I'm done I think. **

**Oh! and if anyone cares the song that I listened to while writing this was White Wolves by Bravestation which is also quoted above**


	2. Interlude: The Witch's Tale

**Disclaimer: actually I'm pretty sure I own all of this. **

**A/N: OKAY SO THIS IS ACTUALLY IMPORTANT. So this is an interlude which means that it deviates slightly from the storyline but is kind of important to it. In all honesty you DO NOT have to read it. But it follows the fairytale theme I'm going for in this fic. **

**The next update which should be coming in less than a day will be a chapter and will have a bit of Klaus in it. **

**All right so read if you like but stay tuned for Chapter 2.**

**Interlude: The Witch's Tale**

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This is the tale of the first Beast born from the darkness in the heart of man.

Most stories begin either in a time of great light or in times of great darkness. This story however begins at the twilight of a wild age. It was so long ago that not many people remember and those who do are have long since shed their mortal coil along with their mortal shells. The forest was a dark place in those times, back before the Path and before those who guard it. And the world was overrun with beasts that could speak and dream and doze in the afternoon haze. It was a time of darkness that held no evil. No man or beast knew fear in those days.

These monsters devoured each other as they pleased and never took revenge for give and take was currency of the realm. They ran wild and drank from puddles and never did they have war with one another for they had no alliances. This was the way of the world. That is until the Well appeared.

Man and Beast were one in the same at this time. They ate under the same roof and bathed in the same water. They sat around fires as brothers would until one day. A hole appeared in the world so deep and dark that there was no way to tell just how deep it went.

One beast who walked on four legs, was thin and swift but vicious and strong very much resembling the wolves that you know now demanded they leave. The Wolf Beast was not the cleverest of them but he was the most intuitive.

"I sense it is not like us," the beast said, "what thing appears suddenly so deep and dark that is among us? Surely this thing is evil."

Take note child for this was the first time that particular word was uttered. The Beast's companions shared confused glances amongst themselves. What was "evil"? They have never heard such a word. What did it mean?

"Do you not understand?" the Beast who was like a wolf said, "Do you not feel the fear that pours from that thing?"

And this was the second word that held no meaning for the men and beasts that had gathered around the hole. They all began to murmur amongst themselves their voice growing harsh and ragged like the bark of the trees.

The Fox Beast, who was in possession of the quickest wit, knew immediately what the Wolf Beast was implying and he spoke into the crowd. He said that the Wolf Beast mocked their intelligence.

The Man Beast who was very mindful of community knew what the Wolf Beast aimed to do. He wished to tear them apart with these new words and he offered his knowledge up to the group.

The Beast who was like the bear was the strongest of the company and grabbed hold of the Wolf Beast. He gripped him tight in his arms so that he could not be swift, could not be like the wind and run from their accusations.

"We do not understand your words," they all cried together, "we do not know of these things you speak."

And even as they claimed not to know those words they became them. The Men and the Beasts felt fear. Fear of the Wolf Beast who seemed to know far more than they did. They were fearful of the hole that seemed to yawn open wider as the seconds ticked by. It demanded retribution. It demanded a sacrifice.

Man and Beast felt evil tunneling deep down into their souls, into their guts. Poisoning and curdling their insides, the evil and fear had already begun their work. They had already decided what to give the Well. They had found their sacrifice.

"How?" cried the Wolf Beast, "how can you not know? Are you dumb like the grains of dirt? Are you like the stones that cannot speak or the blades of grass that have gone dark with Death?"

The Beast who was like a bear lifted the Wolf Beast above his head.

"Why are you doing this? Why?" asked the Wolf Beast confused by the looks on the faces of his brothers.

Never before had he seen such madness. Never before had he known wrath and fear turned to red murder. But he would know. He would be the first to know. Murder is not the same as killing my dear girl. They are two very different things that is why they are different words.

The Men and the Beasts took hold of the Wolf Beast and broke his bones. They tore the skin from his flesh and took his head from his neck. Then they threw him down into the hole, the first Well of Darkness and fed the thing that lived deep down in the depths of the earth.

They all waited for a very long time. No one moved. They barely breathed as they waited for the sound of their mutilated friend to hit the bottom but it never came. Instead there was a different kind of sound. The sound of tearing, of cloth, of skin, bled into the air. It was like a screech without words or tongue and it broke out across the forest calling all moving things to come and attend to it.

Then from the hole rose a dark liquid that glinted red only when it caught the sunlight. It smelled sweetly of musk and dark things that hid in shadows and whispered in the bleakest of dreams. The Beasts and Men of the forest had no choice. They dipped their hands and mouths into the sweet madness and drank until their bellies were full. They drank until they were no longer what they were before.

The Beasts became dumb. Their tongues turned to lead in their mouths and they never spoke words again. They were Beasts no more but mere animals.

The Men forgot their brothers. They forgot that they ate under the same roof and bathed under the same stars. Never again would they understand the language of the trees, the dirt and the stars.

When night fell they looked up from Well. All around them they saw the faces of strangers and fled. They ran from that place where they had spilled the blood of their brother not out of necessity but out of fear and rage. They fled from their sin and fled from the evil that had poured out of their own guts.

When all was quiet and night had fallen a nose broke through the surface of the dark liquid. Then came the rest of a hairy snout. A paw soaked red all the way through appeared as well and from the liquid rose a monster that could not speak but was not dumb. It was a wolf but inside was the skin and bones of a man. He cried horribly into the night a sound caught between a howl and a scream. A full moon was out.

This was the setting of the sun. This was the beginning of the age of the Werewolf.

* * *

**And here ends the Witch's Tale. **

**tell me what you think. did you hate it or did you hate? drop me a line or don't. I'm pretty free market when it comes to these things.**

**maluhia i waho**

**bri**


	3. Chapter 2: A Stranger Appears

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**A Stranger Appears & the Apprentice's Tale**

* * *

"What are werewolves?" Caroline said slowly once the Witch had finished her story.

Caroline was curled up in the large green cushioned chair as if she had been born there and had lived her whole life in that very chair. The light outside had turned from bright yellow to a cooling orange. She had been there for nearly three hours listening to story after story. The Witch had only promised one but Caroline had convinced her to sweeten the deal.

"My goodness child were you not listening?" the Witch said, "They are beasts born of anger and evil caught between man and wolf capable of great violence and of even greater deceit."

That got Caroline's attention. She sat up quickly and leaned forward in her chair.

"What do you mean deceit?" Caroline asked her voice entering the air hesitantly.

"The werewolf can assume the shape of both man and wolf," the Witch replied more focused on the needlework before her.

During the course of the story the Witch had begun to embroider a piece of pure white cloth. Caroline had tried to peak over at what the Witch was making. Each time her efforts were thwarted by a slight tilt of the bone tambour frame.

"They can't possibly be real," Caroline declared, "that was only a story."

The second statement didn't sound quite as sure as the first. She eyed the Witch carefully watching for any answer. Her search turned up unfruitful. She could not tell if the Witch agreed or disagreed.

Caroline wasn't sure which she preferred. If werewolves were real then surely the world was an even darker and more dangerous place than she had imagined but it would be fantastical too. If werewolves were real that meant all the fairies and fawns in her stories must be real as well.

"The Werewolf was the result of great evil, a sin that will mark this forest for all time," the Witch replied not fully answering Caroline's question.

Caroline eyed the Witch's smug expression. Surely there was no such thing but who would make up such a thing? All stories have some truth that is what separated them from lies.

"Well if they are real," Caroline said, "how can you tell them apart from normal men?"

The Witch smiled at Caroline. She was an inquisitive little thing an she had made quite an impression upon the old Witch. She was already half in love with the yellow-haired girl.

"Men who wander the forest, traveling men they will call themselves," the Witch replied, "these are men you should always shy away from, dear heart."

Caroline wrinkled her nose in thought. She considered the new information and thought briefly of the man she had met along the path. He seemed to be somewhat of a traveler.

"What if they travel along the Path?" Caroline asked sitting up fully now, "surely then they must be safe."

The Witch only shook her head. The girl was still so young and so naïve. It would be a shame to ruin such innocence but it was better to be disillusioned than dead.

"I'm afraid not even my magic and all the witches of the path can keep out the Evil people welcome into their homes willingly and I'm afraid Monsters tread even here, my dear."

It was then that Caroline became very aware of the time. She glanced out the window and saw the blue of the sky turning dimmer. The yellow light had bled orange and was fading to pink. The Witch looked as well. The day was running out and Caroline still needed to travel the Path.

"Now listen here, child and listen closely," the Witch said stealing Caroline's attention away from the dying light outside, "it does not matter if you are of fur, tooth and claw or of cloth and live beneath a roof. Man can make as much evil as Monsters. Do you understand?"

Caroline was confused by the sudden admission. She had seen the bruises that Tyler wore some days when their pranks had gone too far. More than once she had been on the less fortunate end of switch but she had never seen these things as evil. Caroline had a feeling that these things were not what the Witch was referring to when she spoke of evil. Caroline thought of the Wolf Beast and how he had been sacrificed to the Well. A man had been among the company who committed the act.

"No I don't think so," Caroline replied although she was still conflicted.

"No matter one day you will," the Witch said.

The sound of the door creaking open broke out into the air. The apprentice had returned.

"Gran did Elena already –"

It was a young girl she couldn't have been any older than Caroline. Caroline had been expecting someone older perhaps more elegant like the Witch. The only thing the Witch and the apprentice had in common was their perfect smooth complexion.

Bonnie looked over the girl who was sitting in her chair. Caroline too was not at all what Bonnie had expected to find.

"You're not Elena," Bonnie deadpanned a critical eye aimed at the newcomer.

Caroline at once felt ashamed all over again. She hopped up from the chair that burned her now that she knew to whom it belonged. A bright pink blush fell over her cheeks and the place where her neck met her shoulders. The Witch watched the two. She saw Bonnie's glare. Caroline's embarrassment was written obviously on her skin. Girls could be so cruel to one another.

Caroline opened her mouth no doubt to let apologies spill out but the Witch caught her eye. The apology caught in her throat. Instead Caroline crossed her arms over her chest. Her hips swung right and she put on the most unimpressed expression she could muster.

"Obviously," she said as she tilted her chin down to look Bonnie in the eye.

Bonnie huffed at the display. Who was this blond girl to sass her in her own home? Though the cottage did not in fact belong to Bonnie, not yet.

"And if not Elena, then who are you?"

"I'm Caroline," she said walking forward the offering a hand in greeting, "Elena was sick so I brought the basket today."

Bonnie ignored Caroline's hand. She moved right past her to speak to the Witch.

"But Gran how will we-" Bonnie began but the Witch cut her off with a stern look and a gesture of her hand.

"Caroline was nice enough to agree to take Elena a bit of medicine for her flu," the Witch said, "to help her get over it faster."

The Witch and Bonnie shared a look that Caroline was certain had nothing to do with Elena's flu or medicine to aid it. There was more, far more going on in the Witch's cottage.

"Caroline my dear you should be heading home," the Witch said glancing out the window again.

The sky had turned an even deeper shade of orange. The pink of the sky had gone purple.

"Aww but can't I have one more story?" Caroline cried.

"No," the Witch said gravely, "you must get back before moonrise."

Caroline pouted but the Witch would not budge. However after all that talk of evil and beast in the shadows of the full moon had shaken Caroline just the slightest bit. The Witch began to remove her needlework from its hoop. Caroline opened her mouth to protest but closed it again thinking of werewolves and traveling men. But surely one more story would not make such a difference but before she could voice her thoughts Bonnie was at her side. She had a small bottle made of a deep blue opaque glass stopped with cork in her hand.

"Come I'll walk you to the door," she said handing the pretty bottle to Caroline.

Bonnie began to pull her towards the door but Caroline resisted. She ran back to the Witch's side.

"Can I visit again," Caroline said, "I can come with Elena or if you need me to run errands in the village or-"

The Witch's grave expression broke and a smile slipped across her lips. The sight of her smile silenced the younger girl's ramblings.

"Sweet girl the Witches of the Path never have business in the villages," she said but she noticed the girls fallen expression, "but you are always welcome here."

Caroline smiled widely. Bonnie rolled her eyes at the little conversation. She was sure her teacher was going soft in her old age. Encouraging little girls to go wandering through the forest to visit a couple of witches. How irresponsible but Bonnie said nothing. Instead she gripped Caroline's arm and pulled her towards the door again.

"I don't see why I have to leave before moonrise," Caroline said as she put on her boots, "won't I be safe on the Path."

Bonnie waited patiently for Caroline to put her shoes back on.

"We can only protect you from the beasts that dwell beyond the Path," Bonnie replied evenly, "besides didn't you realize?"

Caroline looked up at the girl. She shook her head genuinely confused.

"It's a full moon tonight."

_This was the setting of the sun. This was the beginning of the age of the werewolf._

* * *

Things change of that Caroline was certain. After that first full moon the world had become a different place. Caroline could remember waking up in the middle of the night to the men shouting. There had been an attack. A beast had found them and taken two men. The first had been a young man who had no family, no relations. He had arrived a few winters back asking for shelter and food. People could hardly even remember his name. The second had been Grayson Gilbert. That had been three years ago.

The three girls soon to be young women sat together in the small herb garden just outside of the Witch's cottage. It was some time past noon and the air was still warm. Bonnie was of course hard at work pulling weeds and tending to the flora and fauna. Elena had offered to help but the apprentice had only waved her off.

"Could you tell us a story?" Caroline asked Bonnie.

She hadn't even tried to offer her help. Caroline knew that Bonnie would not have it. The apprentice took her job far too seriously. Instead she had gathered up some wildflower and called Elena to her. The two girls took a seat in the shade casted by the cottage. Leaning against the dark clay wall they began to weave the flowers into wreaths.

"Why don't you tell us one," Bonnie said before grunting as she pulled on a particularly difficult, "since you're so obsessed with them."

Caroline ignored the mild jab at her fancies. To rise to Bonnie's taunt would be to declare the apprentice's victory. Instead she began to weave bright purple flowers in to Elena's hair. Elena remained quiet.

"Aren't you getting too old for fairytales and fables anyway?"

There was some truth in Bonnie's words as always. Caroline was already fourteen going on fifteen in just a couple weeks. Girls her age were thinking about marriage or finding their place within the village. Caroline could only think of far off places, shining cities of ivory, coral palaces and mystical beasts. Anywhere was better than the hungry forest that had already devoured so much of her life.

"Can anyone ever be too old for fairytales?" Caroline replied.

"Yes," Bonnie grunted pulling on another tricky weed.

If there was anything Caroline realized over the last three years it was that Bonnie was ruthless when it came to telling someone the truth. It wasn't that she was untactful. She just didn't see the point of sweetening the truth. Bonnie was always brutal in her honesty.

"Well we'll just have to agree to disagree," Caroline said taking a moment to admire her handiwork on Elena's hair, "now won't you tell us a story, Bonnie?"

Bonnie paused and glanced at Elena. She had not said a word since arriving. Even her offering of help had been silent. It must have been one of her bad days. In fact it had been a bad few years for the young girl. After her father's death her mother had suddenly disappeared. Caroline told Bonnie that people in the village claimed to have seen her walk straight into the forest, feet bare and hair free. They claimed she had gone mad with grief.

Either way Elena had been left with no parents and a younger brother who needed care. There had been talk of an aunt arriving but in three years it had not happened. Instead Matt had stepped up. He provided them with meat from his hunt and taught Jeremy how to be a man even though Matt was barely one himself.

Caroline spent the entire time burning with guilt and jealousy. The way things were going Elena and Matt were practically married. But didn't Elena deserve something good after everything? Didn't she deserve Matt, good, sweet, loyal Matt?

"Oh fine," Bonnie huffed tired of weeding, "it won't be one you'll like but it's the only one I have memorized."

"That's fine," Caroline said.

She pulled Elena along behind her out into the sun, their wreaths in hand. They sat besides the apprentice Caroline placed a yellow one upon Bonnie's head. She smiled at the sight of her two friends (the only ones she had left) so pretty with flowers in their hair.

"Well hurry up and put your flowers on too," Bonnie grumbled, "if we're going to act like silly little girls we might as well all look that part."

Her lips slipped into a pretty pink smile. Elena reached up and placed the wreath she had made upon Caroline's head. Elena smiled. Caroline always did look lovely in red.

"Now listen closely," Bonnie began, "this is a story that only witches tell."

_This is the tale of the second beast born from the darkness within the soul of Man._

_Wakea was the embodiment of sky and light. He alone opens the door of the sun to shine light down upon the Earth, Papa. Papa was the embodiment of the firmament below, the goddess of the earth and the underworld. From her womb came the gods and from the gods came all mortal things. Together Papa and Wakea were married and the creation of the world began._

_Ho'ohokukalani was the creator of stars and guardian of the night sky and she was more beautiful than all things in her domain. Wakea knew this beauty and lusted after her. So he tricked Papa into turning her eyes away long enough to take what he wanted. From this lust was born their first child, a stillborn and he was buried beneath the earth. This was Haloa whose stifled body would yield plants of nourishment and protection for his kaikaina, younger brother, Haloa first-born man. The elder Haloa fed and protected the younger Haloa and he in turn tended to the land. Together they flourished._

_When Papa learned of Wakea's betrayal her heart filled with anger and sadness. She cut her heart from her chest and broke it into pieces and hid them away deep in the womb of the earth. Papa was the first Witch you see. From her all magic flows. She whispered words of power over that earth and waited._

_And it was from that dark patch of earth that her daughters were born wiser and more powerful than Haloa and any child born of his line…_

"I think you're just making this up," Caroline said breaking Bonnie's story.

"Caroline," Elena whined stretching out the vowels, "you can't just interrupt a story like that."

It had been the first words that Elena had said all day. She stretched in the sun like a lazy cat. Her head had found its way into Caroline's lap and all the flowers had fallen from her hair. She seemed comfortable.

"I'm just saying it sounds like you're just trying to tell us how great witches are," Caroline said, "there's nothing wrong with being human."

Caroline and Elena shared a look then giggled together. Bonnie rolled her eyes. Witches were better. Could a human call the elements together, could they call forth lightning and fire? No they could not but that was beside the point.

"Those weren't the first witches," Bonnie explained, "those were the Sisters, three of them representing the three sides of nature, life, destruction and movement."

Caroline rolled her eyes and watched as Elena yawned again. She ran a hand over Elena's dark hair just the slightest bit irritated. She had worked so hard to put those flowers in and they had been so pretty.

"Well then get on with it," Caroline replied sticking her tongue out at her friend.

"I would if you'd let me," Bonnie grumbled.

_Now as I was saying three women came forth from the ground where Papa buried her heart. They towered like the trees of the forest and their skin was pitch black as the night sky. She named the first one Ola, life. The second was named Ke Kahena, the flowing. And the last was named Lukuna, destruction._

_Satisfied with her daughters Papa left them to destroy the children of Haloa, the fruit of Wakea's infidelity. But as soon as Papa was gone a fourth daughter came up from the dirt. She was much smaller than the Three and her skin was more like the color of the forest floor than the darkness of night. She had come from smallest shard of their mother's broken heart and because of that she was the sweetest of them. They called her Li'ili'i and she was like the men and women of the forest, mortal and weak but the Three could not help but love her. From that love grew compassion for Man and the Three, instead of destroying the children of Haloa, protected them._

_It is from Li'ili'i that all witches come. Her children would become to the patrons of the Path for the fourth daughter of Papa fell in love with a man of the forest and against her sister's wishes married him._

_"You are not of Haloa you cannot mix with his descendants," her sisters said, "there is darkness in the hearts of men, darkness that will devour you whole."_

_But Li'ili'i, although neither great nor powerful like her sisters, was passionate and she could no more deny her love than she could sprout wings and fly. So she married her man and together they had a multitude of children and their children had children. So it goes._

_But Man was born with a hole in their heart burned into them by Wakea's deceit. And though the children of Li'ili'i were a source of good in the world they could just as easily become a source of evil. And it was a daughter of Li'ili'i, a witch, who created the second Beast out of fear and selfishness. From her own children she created the Vampire._

"She made them?" Caroline said.

Her two friends hushed her. Both Bonnie and Elena were more invested in the story than she was. Caroline couldn't help but feel the story was going downhill from there.

"Shush, I'm almost finished."

_At this time the Werewolf preyed upon the people of the forest, witch and human alike. Every month men and women, old and young were slain by the monsters that lurked in the shadow cast by the full moon. More than once witches and warlocks, daughters and sons of Li'ili'i, went before the Sisters and begged them for protection, for asylum but their reply was ever the same._

_"We are of nature and you all are of us. Your sufferings invoked by nature we suffer with you also," they said, "but the Werewolf was a punishment invoked by man and must be suffered by man alone."_

_This was the Sisters' reply again and again. It was their reply when a young and powerful witch came before them as well. Her youngest son had been killed, slaughtered by the wolves._

_"Please," she begged, "my youngest has died and my other children live in constant danger. Your indifference has forced me to endure the loss of one child I beg you not to force me to endure such pain again."_

_The Sisters pitied her but their reply was ever constant._

_"Dear child, sister, you know we can do nothing," they told her, "many have known your suffering we pray to the Great Mother that you man find solace in that."_

_"Can one even find solace in such a thing?" the young witch replied hotly and left their presence._

_She would see the Sisters only once again when they cursed her to the Otherside._

_After the Sisters refused to give her their support she turned to her own sisters and brothers, her fellow witches. She appealed to their paternal sensibilities but even they would not help her. For they too had lost their children, their friends and family but they had endured. Her fellow witches and warlocks assured her that she too would endure as well._

_But the witch whose name has been lost to time would not see reason. She went into the forest searching for something. Perhaps it was death but she did not find it. Instead she came to a hole in the ground, something like a well._

_And this well was deep and dark so much so that she could not see the bottom. She bent down to her knees and she looked into the well. Then suddenly she had the queerest feeling that the Well was looking to her as well. It was then that she knew that this was no ordinary well but a well of power. So she spoke to it. She poured into the Well her desire to protect her children, her fear, her sins._

_Once she had finished she sat and waited. The sun set and rose twice before she received an answer. The sound started in low at first like a whisper. Then it grew until it was a single sound, a note that rang in her ears until she could hear nothing else. And it burned. She was sure her ears were bleeding._

_And then suddenly she knew. Despite the ringing in her ears, and the pain forming at the back of her skull she knew what she had to do to protect her family._

_Then the sound became a voice, "What is dead may never die, kill your children, break them down then rebuild them so that they will be faster, stronger, more vicious than any being this world can create. Only then will they be safe from the wolves. Only when they are monsters too will they be safe from the beasts of the forest."_

_And so the witch went home and she remembered the words of the Well. She held council with her husband and together the created the Second Beast the vampire._

_The witch spelled her five remaining children using the blood of a young woman and the strength of the White Oak. She called upon the darkest powers she knew and allied herself with them. She and her husband struck her children down and by the time the full moon passed her children rose up an affront to Nature. Like the werewolf before them the vampire was plague upon the human race._

"Is that the end?" Caroline cried absolutely flabbergasted.

Bonnie smirked at her friend. Caroline only glared back at her. She sighed and fell back into the soft grass. The earth was slightly damp and she wiggled at the sensation of it pressing into her back.

"I told you, you wouldn't like," Bonnie replied

"It didn't even have an ending," Caroline said grumbled.

She began to count the clouds in the sky even that would be more satisfying than Bonnie's story. Caroline had been wholly dissatisfied with it. It wasn't so much a story as it was a history lesson.

"Of course it did, the vampires are the scourge of the night and they feast upon the blood of the living," Bonnie said.

"That sounds horrible," Elena cut in.

"The vampires are a horrible race though they say that of the original five the middle child who was of fair hair and eyes is the most hated and feared of them all."

Elena frowned. She prayed she never met a vampire ever in her entire life.

"Is?" Caroline said, "are you suggesting that your stupid story was real?"

She sat up abruptly from her place upon the ground.

"Of course it was real," Bonnie replied heatedly, "that's why I told it to you."

The girls sat in silence for a short while. Elena picked at the dirt and Caroline dropped her weight down onto her elbows. She dipped her head back and stared at the blue expanse of the sky. She knew she shouldn't feel so sad about the story but what else did she have to look forward too?

In the past two years everything had fallen apart. Elena's family had crumbled down to nearly nothing. Caroline had watched her first love fall into the arms of her best friend. Even Tyler had abandoned her in favor of his mysterious uncle. Once upon a time they had made blood oaths to each other but now Tyler and Caroline were strangers. Sometimes Caroline wanted to scream. Her father, her mother and now her friends had all slipped away from her. So what did Caroline have in the end? Stories? Fairytales? Did she not deserve those at least?

"Why?" Caroline said.

Elena and Bonnie glanced over at their friend then back at each other. They were both unsure what she was asking about.

"Why what?" Bonnie replied suddenly unsure of how the other girl would react.

Bonnie and Elena both knew that Caroline was nowhere near as airheaded as she seemed. Caroline could seem simple at times always asking for stories and making flower wreathes. But adolescence is a strange time for girls and they are not always what they seem.

"Why did everyone hate the middle one?" she asked clarifying her question.

Perhaps she was just trying to salvage whatever she could of that sad excuse of a story but Bonnie's words irked her.

"Well I don't know? I've never met him before but I'm sure there's a good reason."

Caroline wanted to disagree. Sometimes people didn't have a reason at all for the way they felt. Maybe he people just decided to hate him and maybe he just decided to play the part. Tyler didn't give her any warning neither did her father or mother. Sometimes people just hated each other.

"He must have been the loneliest as well," Caroline mumbled then got up and left her friends behind.

Caroline couldn't put her finger on why Bonnie's story had upset her so much. Perhaps it was the way her story echoed the Witch's story that Caroline could scarcely remember. She remembered the Well though and she remembered how just the thought of it made her shiver as a girl.

Elena and Bonnie watched Caroline wander away from them to the other side of the garden. She was in one of her moods and they supposed she would be on her cycle soon. So they ignored her and instead began to talk about something or other. Bonnie began to weed again. This time when Elena offered help Bonnie accepted.

As Caroline made her way around to the other side of the cottage her imagination ran wild. She began to make the middle child up in her mind. He wouldn't be so much of a child as a young man. He would be tall and beautiful but modestly so. There would be stern look about him as well from his hard life, from the battles fought between his own monstrous nature and his will to stay true to his humanity. His hands would be beautiful like that of an artist or a musician for such a damaged soul must surely be an artistic one as well. And still there would be that loneliness in him. To be the most feared and the most hated must also mean he was loneliest.

She ran her fingers lightly across the dark stone of the cottage. The wall was warm on her cool, slightly damp fingers. She shivered at the sensation as she turned the corner and found herself in the long shadow cast by the cottage.

There was nothing but soft green grass on this side of the house and Caroline settled amongst it. She put her back up against the warm stone wall and dipped her head down. Her forehead touched the dull fabric covering the tops of her knees and she sighed.

She didn't mean to be so moody. But isn't that what young girls are supposed to be, full of strange emotions and hormones. Surely her feelings were completely normal.

"Isn't it a strange feeling to be so lonely and still want nothing more than to be alone?"

Caroline's head snapped up at the sound of a stranger's voice. Across the patch of green grass and beyond the Witch's fence stood a man, a strange man. He was dressed finely even finer than Richard Lockwood the most prosperous man in her village.

_How strange to see a man so finely dressed amongst the wild flowers and underbrush_, Caroline thought.

"I suppose it is," Caroline replied wary of the newcomer, "do you know it?"

The last traveler she had met had stolen her best friend who knew what this man planned to take from her. However, he was pleasant to look at. Sharp features paired with full lips of deep pink he looked like sin. His hair was a light brown that flashed gold in the creeping sunlight of the forest. Although she could not see them as they were hidden behind his back, Caroline was certain his hands were beautiful. Perhaps they were the hands of a painter or musician.

"I was young once too," he replied stepping forward but hesitated.

His eyes dropped down to the ground. The plants growing at the base of the wood fence seemed to repulse him. Caroline knew that it was an herb that lined the fence around the Witch's small property. However she could not remember its name or its properties. The line of her brow winkled in thought. Surely he was not afraid of a plant.

"It's just a plant," Caroline said, "are you allergic?"

He returned his attention to her. A slow smile crawled up then smoothed out evenly over his face. And although it did not completely reach his eyes Caroline could not help but smile back. He was certainly a strange man.

"No," he replied, "I've just remembered I have somewhere else to be."

"Somewhere else in this forest?" she said still smiling but now at the  
ridiculousness of such a statement, "where could you possibly have to be?"

She laughed and she could have sworn he did as well but she couldn't be sure. He was not very close but she could see his smile widen. He had dimples.

"It sounds like you want me to stay, love," he replied, "perhaps I might if you would be kind enough to give me a name."

But Caroline knew better. She was a girl of the Path and the villages along it. Her entire life had been building to this moment when she refused the false kindness of a stranger in the wood.

"I'm afraid I can't," Caroline replied standing from her seat in the grass, "I'm far too smart a girl to give my name to strangers."

There. She was sure she heard the trill of laughter escape his throat that time. If only he'd get closer she'd be able to tell for sure. She took a step forward. Something about him drew her in like a moth to the flame. Another step forward and then another, she could almost tell the color of his eyes.

"But I would be obliged if you told me your name first," Caroline said realizing she was breathless but did not know why.

Then something sinister appeared in his expression. The world seemed to slope slightly on its axis and Caroline's breathing halted all together. She was suddenly very aware of the fact she was already halfway to the fence. Just fifteen feet or so away was the stranger. His was head cocked at a perfectly innocent angle. His blue eyes were smiling. His lips wrapped around a word, then a sound.

Then the silence was broken.

"Caroline, dearest I have something for you," the Witch's voice rang out through the chilly air, had it always been so cool?

She pivoted around on her left heel nearly falling in the process.

"Yes, gran?" she called back with the nickname that the Witch has insisted all three of the girls call her.

Caroline experienced then a moment of such fear, so bitter, so rich that she could taste it in the saliva lining her throat as she swallowed thickly. Her breath returned to her all at once and she let out a choking sob. It was like she had finally remembered to be afraid for there was no path, no marked earth where the stranger stood.

"Come here, child," the Witch called, "and don't dilly or dally. The day runs out quickly."

Pressing her lips into a thin line, Caroline took a deep breath. She prayed to any god, the Sisters perhaps, or Papa to lend her their courage. A small cluster of sweat had gathered in the curve of the nape of her neck. As muscles contracted and twisted the vertebrae in her spine so that she could look over her shoulder the sweat trickled down between her shoulder blades. She gasped. There was no one there. Caroline had never known such relief or terror.

"Caroline Forbes, I'm giving you all of ten seconds to get your ass in here," the Witch called again, "One! Two!"

Her hand came up to her chest as if to check if her heart was still beating. Finding her the muscle still keeping time, Caroline let out a hollow breath.

"Six! Seven!"

Realizing that there was a much more immediate danger waiting for in the form an angry witch she pushed down her fear. She ran to the door of the cottage. Her feet were already bare so she shot past the threshold without stopping. Sure enough the Witch was waiting along with Bonnie and Elena.

"Well you made it in time," the Witch noticed the girl's flustered state, "what's happened to you, child? You look like you've witnessed a murder."

Caroline had half a mind to reply with 'very nearly'. There was no telling what the stranger would have done had she gotten too close.

"There was a stranger," Caroline said her voice cracking, "it was just outside. It didn't come from the Path."

The four others remained silent at Caroline's statement, stunned as they were. It was the way Caroline said "it" instead of he or she that made the other three freeze whether in terror or wrath, Caroline could not tell. The Witch was the first to break the silence.

"You three stay here. Do not make a sound. Do not cross the threshold and invite no one in not even me," she said and then in a whirl of her dark robes she was out the door into the light of day.

It took only a moment for the girls to react. Elena was the first to burst forward enveloping Caroline in her thin arms. Then Bonnie came forward and enclosed them both in her embrace. Tangled together they were a fortress and though no tears were shed there was sadness in their huddle.

They could have lost her. The shock of such a realization was still settling but they understood the gravity of it. Neither Elena nor Bonnie had seen the thing that threatened even the Witch and they had no wish to but they knew the danger Caroline had been. They could practically smell the unease sticking to her like a horrible stench. Bonnie and Elena knew her fear.

When the Witch did finally return she found the three girls curled into one another on one of the large cushioned chairs before the dark fireplace. The sunlight made shapes on their faces as it beamed in from outside. The Witch had brought something back.

"Caroline, Elena, I think it's time you head back to the village," she said and the two girls knew there were no arguments to be had.

They untangled themselves from the knot they had been woven into. The light of day had cooled while the Witch was away but still burned orange across the sky. Caroline looked through the window across the room into the darkening forest. They would get back to the village just before dark if they started out immediately.

"Stick to the Path and speak to no one," the Witch said grabbing a basket from one of the shelves in the cottage.

She took two jars identical in size and contents and placed them neatly in the woven basket. She produced from her coat a few sprigs of the herb that shot up around her fence. These were the contents of the basket nothing more nothing less. The Witch began to give the basket to Caroline but paused and handed it to Elena instead.

She gathered the two girls closer and beckoned her apprentice near. Leaning in she began to tell them a secret never before given to those outside of the Witches' circle.

"The contents of this basket are to remain a secret," the Witch whispered to the girls, "speak of it to no one. See what is in these jars you must everyday take a drink of water or bit of food and take it with a bit of the contents. Never let anyone see you do this."

"But what is it, gran?" Elena asked.

"Never you mind what it is and do as I say, girl," the Witch replied sternly then turned to Caroline.

The girl looked to be deep in thought. Her eyes were glossy, her mind far away. Caroline could not shake the feeling that it was not over yet. She could not help but think that the man or creature that she had witnessed before would come for her again. That thought was like a mist in her mind and the moisture of it sank down into her bones leaving her shaking and cold.

"Caroline, dear heart," the Witch called to her placing dark cool hands on either side of the girl's face, "the man you saw, you can never speak of him. You must try to keep him for your mind. Do you understand me?"

Caroline seemed confused but before she could say anything the Witch was ushering Caroline and Elena towards the door. The two girls hurried to pull on their shoes and do up the laces. Neither the Witch nor the girls said a word. The light of day was running out.

Elena was finished first and she pulled Caroline up and along behind her. Caroline couldn't help but glance back. As they passed through the Witch's gate she caught a glimpse of dark robes just before the door slammed shut.

"What's in the basket?" Caroline asked.

Elena paused then shrugged her shoulders.

"Jars," she replied.

"No besides that," Caroline countered.

"There's nothing else," Elena said hoping Caroline would let the question drop.

It wasn't that Elena was upset with Caroline but she couldn't help feeling uneasy. She knew better than most that the wood held dangers. All she wanted was to stay clear of the shadows and monsters that lurked in the dark. She just wanted to get back to the village, home, back to Matt and Jeremy. Caroline stopped her and reached into the basket. Her hands found what she was looking for. From the basket she produced a sprig of some herb.

"Oh, that's fennel," Elena said, "the Witch must have put it in there."

"It grows around their property," Caroline mumbled inspecting the plant, "why would she put it in our basket?"

Elena rolled her eyes. Caroline could be so easily distracted. Finding the blond girl's hand, Elena gripped it tight and pulled her friend along behind her.

"Come on, Caroline," Elena called to her, "we have to get back before sun down. You know you're mother hates it when we're late."

"It's fine," Caroline said quietly, "there's still two nights before the full moon. It only ever happens on a full moon."

"I know that," Elena replied coolly.

Of course Elena knew that the beast only struck on a full moon. She knew better than anyone. They walked on in silence. Caroline was lost in thought trying to remember what fennel was for. Elena was counting down the seconds until she would be safe in her home. When they finally spotted the houses through the trees twilight was at its end. There seemed to be a small crowd waiting for them. Caroline recognized the faces of some of the adults among them Richard Lockwood and her mother.

"Evil," Caroline said suddenly remembering what the Witch had told her once before, "fennel protects against evil."

* * *

**A/N: So if you're wondering the Apprentice's Tale is based partly on the creation story of Hawaiian Mythology and partly on the Original's story.**

**Words:**

_**Papa - the Hawaiian goddess of the Earth  
Wakea - the Hawaiian god of the Sky  
Haloa - name for both the elder brother (Kalo) of the Hawaiian people also the name of the first man  
Ho'ohokukalani - the Hawaiian goddess of the stars**_

_**Kaikaina - younger sibling (of the same gender)  
Li'ili'i - small**_

**Gah! sorry I meant to post this sooner but I fell asleep ahaha. Well Happy Christmas everyone tell me what you think. Did you like it? Did you want to barf at me? Did you want to set me on fire? Let me know.**


	4. Chapter 3: Après moi, le déluge

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**A/N: so HUUUUUUUUUUUGE thank you to Meha my beta for enduring this whole process with me and listening to my crackpot ideas. Another huge thank you to Lulu for pushing this fic like a professional pimp. And just all the readers who have kept with this fic. This will be the last chapter for this fic BUT! I have a sequel started already to keep your eyes out for that. **

**Again thank you everyone for read and reviewing and just being really really great. I hope you enjoy this chapter. **

* * *

**Après moi, le déluge**

**Be afraid of the lame, they'll inherit your legs**  
**Be afraid of the old, they'll inherit your souls**  
**Be afraid of the cold, they'll inherit your blood**  
**- Regina Spektor, Après moi**

* * *

It had been two days since Caroline and Elena had come back from the Witch's cottage only to be greeted by a small crowd of a few of their neighbors and the head Council members. They had been there only to whisk Elena away into the Council building leaving Caroline alone with the basket and her mother.

"Go straight home," her mother had told her not even making eye contact. She was focused on the leaving crowd. "Speak of what you just saw to no one."

There was no need for the warning. Caroline had no idea what she had just witnessed. What's more, no one ever thought to ask Caroline for information of the Council's actions despite her mother's position in it. She assumed blissful ignorance. Besides that cryptic warning Elizabeth failed to tell Caroline to wash up or eat dinner once she got home. Again there was no need. Caroline already knew the drill. It wouldn't be the first time she would eat a cold dinner of stale bread and cheese alone in their kitchen. Many a night Caroline had fallen asleep to an empty house. Elizabeth had not even said goodbye before she turned curtly to follow the rest of the Council members to the main building.

Caroline had not seen Elena since but she understood why. Apparently the reason the Council had taken Elena that day was to inform her that her Aunt Jenna had come to the village. Jenna was Miranda Gilbert's sister and there had always been talk of her coming to the village to take custody of the Gilbert sibling but for some reason or another the idea had never come to fruition until recently. Caroline was happy for her friend. With Matt by her side and her Aunt Jenna taking over the household duties, Elena's life was falling into place again.

There had been one other command her mother had given her though it did not come until the next morning. Elizabeth had arrived home the morning after their return just in time to see Caroline preparing hot oatmeal for breakfast. It was the only thing they had in the house.

_"You are not to leave the village again," Elizabeth said startling her daughter enough to make her drop her bowl and the ladle, "no one will be leaving the village for a while."_

_Caroline hadn't seen or heard her come in. The bowl remained intact unfortunately the ladle had met a far more inconvenient fate._

_"But what about the basket for the witches, who will take it?" she replied grimacing at the pot of bubbling oats._

_The ladle had slipped below the lip of the pot and had begun to skin into the thick hot substance and now Caroline was faced with the task of fishing it out. Over the last few years Caroline's mother had more than once commanded her not to leave the village and at times it had kept her from accompanying Elena on her trip to the Witch's cottage. Of course Caroline had been disgruntled about her inability to accompany Elena if only because she wanted to escape the boredom of the village. However she had learned to simply wait out whatever paranoia had taken over the council and by association of her mother as well. That was for the best._

_"That was never your responsibility," Elizabeth said as she moved into the only other room in the house, a medium square space that held their personal items and beds._

_"Well when can I leave again?" She said trying to work out a way to retrieve the ladle with out burning herself. "The Witch was going to show me how to make an all purpose balm for cuts and stuff."_

_Elizabeth never responded. As Caroline began to fish the ladle out with two spoons she heard the front door slam. Elizabeth was gone again._

She should have expected that. Elizabeth never really ever took much interest in Caroline's hobbies or Caroline for that matter. It was to be expected. After Bill had left there were certain responsibilities left unmanned and Elizabeth, though she wasn't expected to, stepped up. As a result she had very little time to spare her daughter's fancies.

Family dynamics aside, the fact remained that Caroline was not to visit the witches again until further notice. Of course Caroline was not happy with the situation if only because of the boredom that she would have to endure. Caroline's responsibilities in the village were few. By the time she was twelve everyone had realized that at the practical things she was useless. She was a pretty thing to be sure and entertaining too but it was the general consensus that Caroline spent far too much time with her head in the clouds. Too often while she was supposed to be helping in the stables or taking part in the harvest had Caroline been caught daydreaming or wandering off. Eventually people just learned to leave her to her own devices.

And that is how two long days after her last visit to the Witch's cottage, Caroline found herself sitting alone at the well that sat in the far Eastern corner of the village. The Eastern Well was a relic from the days before the Path and had only been put into the boundary line for its sentimental value. People hardly ever used it for water. Though Caroline knew for a fact that Brandon Harris and Penelope Moore used it on Sunday nights for less than holy purposes. She steered clear of the place on Sunday. The Eastern Well was ideal for less than noble dealings. It could not even be seen from the village as it sat on the bottom of a dirt slope surrounded by pine. A perfect hiding place for a young girl to brood over the events (in Caroline's case, the lack thereof) of her life.

Midday had yet to pass and Caroline sighed. Time had a cruel way of changing its pace when it was most inconvenient. It could move so quickly when she was dancing and twirling in the sun, in the grass out in front of the Witch's cottage. Time could dart forward and away from her grasp like grasshoppers from leaf to leaf until all she was left with were a few sparse seconds to bid farewell to such pleasurable moments that would turn to nostalgic memory. Time, however, could also move at a snail's pace.

She didn't know why she even came to Eastern Well. All there was to do was to stare at Village boundary line and brood. She felt like the great thinkers and philosophers that the Witch had spoken of in her stories and lessons. But those men and women were patrons of great cities of great civilizations. Caroline was only a girl in a village in the middle of a forest that no one gave two wits about. Besides those intellectuals were only ever met with tragedy. Alchemists lost their homes and families for the sake of science. Poets fell down into ruin. For all their admirable minds and invaluable contributions to thought, they could not figure out a way to avoid their tragic fates.

Another sigh escaped her lips. She was waiting, perhaps for some prince or a great traveler of the world who could whisk her away. She glanced up into the trees ahead and she could have sworn she saw something move amongst the underbrush and pine. There was bright flash. From the corner of her eye she saw it dart to the left. Her heart skipped a beat. All her concentration was on that spot just waiting, waiting for something to happen, anything at all. Caroline just wanted something to happen.

"You're looking pretty lonely all the way out here," came voice from behind her and her concentration was snapped in two.

Again she sighed. It was that sort of day. She knew who it was. Even after three years of ignoring each other and the trials of puberty and teen angst, Caroline could recognize her childhood friend's voice even as the first syllable were only just passing through his lips. Sure enough after a few seconds, the figure of Tyler Lockwood entered her peripheral vision. Though she did not offer him a seat he took one anyway besides her on the lip of the well.

"Yeah that seems to be my middle name these days," Caroline responded not at all concerned with just how bitter she sounded.

She heard Tyler scoff at her remark. He used to answer her bitter words with comfort and understanding. There was once fondness between them, genuine affection. It seemed to have been replaced with irritation and intolerance.

"You wear it well," he replied fiddling with a piece of grass he plucked from the weeds that grew around the stone well. "I hear the other boys talk. They think you're mysterious. I, of course, know better."

It was Caroline's turn to scoff.

"And what would you know about me, Tyler Lockwood?" She stood up from her seat on the lip of the well. "If I recall correctly you and I have barely exchanged more than the bare pleasantries these past three years."

Caroline was not at all in the mood to deal with his insufferable attitude. Rising from her seat on the lip of the well, she placed her hands on her hips and turned her back to the wood. The glare she fixed the young Lockwood would have killed him if such things were possible. It nearly rivaled her mother's. Her cheeks had already grown red with anger, a curse of her fair skin.

"Maybe so but I still remember the airheaded, shallow little girl you were. Too caught up in your stories and fairytales to notice a thing. Not even three years could not make a dent in such idiocy."

Caroline's eyes went as big as saucers. She wanted to strangle the asshole. In an instant her hand was drawn back and folded into a fist. She swung at him as hard as she could, aiming for his cheek. Caroline had never been one for fights but her vision was perfect. Her aim was true but Tyler was faster.

She had expected Tyler to catch her wrist. He was a young man much faster and stronger than she would ever be. However she did not expect him to spin her around push her up against the sharp corner of the lip of the well. It all happened so fast that she did not even have time to scream. Instead her terror dribbled out of the corner of her mouth as a sound caught between a gasp and a squeal. The sharp gray stones of the ledge of the well opening cut into her back as she kicked her legs trying desperately to place them against something solid.

The well to her back yawned open widely. A sound like a moan rose up from the dark hole as though a beast lived below waiting to swallow her whole. She chanced a glance backward. An endless abyss glared back at her and she almost swallowed her own tongue from the terror that overtook her. In the sunlight she saw a spark of the water's surface down below but the shadow of the well swallowed the spark whole leaving nothing but blackness again. She would have fallen in head first and broken her neck if it had not been for Tyler's hands gripping tightly her delicate wrists.

"Let me up," she whispered her breathing faint with fear. "Let me UP."

When he made no move to set her free, Caroline screeched. Her arms went wild. She twisted her body around like a mad woman. For all her struggling she only managed to push herself further into the well. She jerked when she felt her head dip down below the lip of the well.

"LET ME UP!" She screamed at him so scared that she could not control the cracking of her voice.

Her legs kicked at the open air. Then she screamed and then again and again. The sound was almost unnaturally loud and shrill. That snapped Tyler out of his trance. He pulled her back from the mouth of the well so fast that her head snapped forward causing her jaw to clamp down. The sharp edge of her teeth caught her lip and broke the soft skin there.

As soon as her feet touched the ground she swung at him. When she was completely free of his grasp she ran around to the other side of the well. The copper taste of blood filled her mouth and she wiped at the red running down her chin. Even with the well between them Caroline did not feel safe.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" she screamed a bit of spit and blood flew from her mouth. Caroline quickly wiped at her mouth again. "Have you lost your mind? I should strangle you for that."

Tyler was still for a moment. He stared into the darkness of the well. His breathing was labored though he was not the one whose life was just in danger. A smirk formed on his face he fancied he could see its reflection down in the water below but there was only darkness down there, only the abyss. Caroline backed away further ready to make a run for it.

"Come on, Caroline don't be such a stick in the mud," he said putting his hands up, the universal sign of peace but there was no tranquility in his gaze. There was madness; there was murder. "We used to play games like that all the time when we were kids."

Caroline shook her head backing away.

"Never like that, Tyler. It was _never_ like that."

She felt the overwhelming need to run but he would catch her. Faster, stronger, her only hope was to back away slowly. Then it occurred to Caroline that this was Tyler Lockwood. He was not some stranger in the wood or some mystical beast stalking the nights of the full moon. She'd known him her whole life. He used to be her friend.

He may have finally noticed just how terrified Caroline was because his smirk melted away. He dropped his hands and frowned. A look of confusion crowded over his features like he had only just realized that he could have killed her. Then he sighed. It was that sort of day.

"You're welcome to try, strangling me that is," he said circling around the well so that he was standing just a little ways before her, "but I think you'll find that I'm harder to kill than you'd guess."

Each time he got closer Caroline backed away.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean you-you cow-headed _asshole_!"

Tyler doubled over with laughter. Caroline backed away further so that she was already half way up the hill that would lead up the village. When he suddenly straightened back up Caroline was about to make a run for it but she saw his expression. He looked like Tyler again. He looked like her friend.

"Nothing, nothing at all. I didn't come here to make mortal enemies of us."

"Oh no?"

"No," he said turning away to laugh again but regained his composure quickly, "your mother asked me to come get you. There's a going to be a village meeting at midday. Everyone's required to come."

Caroline looked him over. With his dark cheeks flushed and eyes watering he looked like the Tyler she used to know. She nodded. Satisfied with her answer Tyler returned her nod and began to leave. Caroline edged away from him as he passed by her on his way back to the village.

"What happened to us, Tyler?" she asked her arms wrapped around her middle. "We used to be friends."

Tyler did not turn to face her. He couldn't bring himself to do so because he knew the sight that would be waiting for him. Caroline, with her yellow hair and blue eyes demanding the truth, he never learned to lie to her face. He didn't want her to know that he was just as confused, just as surprised by the state of their relationship if it could be called that anymore.

"Time, Caroline," he replied, "it's just time. Changes us all. You shouldn't be out here on your own. Tonight's the full moon."

And with that he continued on towards the village.

Caroline hated the tone he took as if he was so much smarter than her, so much better. Tyler was barely a year older than Caroline and yet he had the nerve to talk like he'd seen so much. She wanted to tell him to shut his mouth. Time doesn't change what they had. They made promises and vows of friendship, of loyalty. Maybe they were just children back then, naïve and too young to understand the way the world worked, but Caroline still honored those vows. Perhaps that meant Caroline was still a child herself but she'd rather be that than whatever Tyler had become.

As he walked away she kept her eyes trained on his retreating back. She didn't trust him. When he was gone from her sight she went back to the well. It was still morning. Midday had yet to pass. She would head back in an hour or so but until then she would wait. Perhaps a prince would save her, a beautiful man with sunlight caught in his hair and the sea in his eyes. She would wait.

* * *

Village Meetings were a rare event. They were never about good things. Always the Council called Village Meetings in the face of a great tragedy or great terror. There was never good news when it came to Village Meeting. In fact Caroline could safely say that nobody liked them except for maybe the head of the Council, Richard Lockwood. He was the sort of man who liked to exert his power and enjoyed sound of his own voice even if he was announcing their doom. But mostly everyone hated Village Meetings.

The Main Hall was the largest structure by far amongst the cluster of houses and buildings. It was a long building with a pointed roof and was mostly empty inside. Sitting at alone at the Eastern side of the village it loomed over all who passed in front of its steps. It had been erected maybe twenty years back before Caroline was even born but it had held sturdy through those two decades. Unlike the houses that were much shorter and either made from carefully laid stone or clay the Main Building was tall and made of wood from the forest beyond the village borders. At one end of the interior was a platform that was raised a few feet from the ground that spanned all the way across the width of the building.

It was there that Richard Lockwood took his place before the crowd. On either side of him was a large men, Council members no doubt. They stood with their back straight hands at their sides. On their left hips they wore a wood baton. Village Meetings because of their upsetting nature could at times get unruly.

"Thank you all for coming," Lockwood said, "as I'm sure you all have figured out this meeting was called to discuss a very serious matter."

Caroline kept near to the back of the crowd. Mostly likely they were heading towards the front their father and husband. Standing on her tippy-toes she scanned the crowd as best as she could for Elena. The two girls often rode out Village Meetings together being that both of them were alone. She spotted her friend further up front. Caroline as about to call to her but stopped. Standing on either side of her was Jenna and Elena's brother, Jeremy. Just a little ways off to the right stood Matt. Every so often she saw the blond youth steal a glance left. They looked like a family.

"You should start wearing a cloak."

A heavy hand fell upon her shoulder. She looked up and found none other than Mason Lockwood. Immediately Caroline wrinkled her nose at the sight. An attribute to her youth, Caroline needed someone to blame for all the hell she and Elena had been put through the past three years. Their lives had been perfectly normal before he arrived in the village. After that everything went wrong. Glancing down at his hand upon her shoulder, Caroline's upper lip twitched. He didn't seem to notice her abhorrence at his touch.

"Winter is close and it gets colder at night," he said smiling kindly.

Caroline did not return his smile and shrugged his hand off.

I'll try to remember that," she said crossing her arms over her chest, "thank you for your concern."

There was no logical reason for Caroline to hate Mason Lockwood. He hadn't told Tyler to stop talking to her. Mason did not tear Grayson Gilbert to shreds in the middle of the forest. In fact Mason wasn't even there when the dragged Grayson's body back. Caroline moved through crowd to get a better view of the platform.

The Lockwood family had always had a strange hold over the people of the village. Always they produced the strongest boys and the most vicious and confident girls. They exuded a certain air of power. Such endowment and fortune attracted people to them. It was because of this magnetism that the Lockwood family had headed the village Council for generations. They had power and Richard Lockwood wielded that power to his advantage.

He looked out over the crowd. Just over a hundred people were waiting for him to speak. He smiled widely being sure to show his straight clean teeth. Caroline was immediately reminded of another smile, another man waiting for in the forest. She thought of hair flashing gold in the mid morning light and pink lips of sin. She realized that this was the smile of a man who knew he would win.

"I propose we absolve the alliance our village has with the witches."

Shit hit the fan. In an instant people began to shout protests. A few even spouted curse words. Mothers covered their children's ears and the older people just shook their heads.

"Have you lost your mind, Lockwood?" called a large man from the crowd his deep voice breaking from the crowd. "We've kept alliance with the witches since before this village was little more than a few clay huts baking in the sun!"

He was a man called Jonathan Baker. His family had not been one of the founding families but Baker was still an old name amongst the people. There seemed to be some support for his statement. A few people echoed his sentiment. Caroline saw Richard's eyes flash dangerously she felt sick at the sight. It was the same look Tyler had given her just hours before.

Richard put his hands up asking for the people to quiet. There was no silence at his gesture. Standing stiffly in the corner to Lockwood's left Elizabeth noticed the crowd growing restless. The guards glanced over at her but she only shook her head. She was more than capable of dealing with this. More and more people began to shout not only at Richard but at each other as well. Though no one had yet to get physical it was the beginnings of a riot. Stone faced as always, Elizabeth took action.

"Quiet!" Elizabeth shouted but the people paid no attention.

Her eyes narrowed at the continued chaos. She walked over to one of the guards and grabbed his baton. Rising the baton high above her head, Elizabeth brought it down as hard a she could upon the platform. Three times she struck the platform causing three loud booms to follow. The people hushed. The look on her face made it very clear that the next person to step out of line would regret it. No one could deny that Elizabeth was a fearful woman. She had survived utter humiliation at abandonment of her husband. She had supported and raised her daughter on her own and had eventually become a major power holder in the village. Not even Carol Lockwood, Richard's wife, had the sway that Elizabeth had on the people. As for Caroline she was just happy to see her mother. Elizabeth had not returned home since yesterday. Once there was complete silence, Elizabeth looked to Richard. He nodded curtly in thanks.

"For three years we have been terrorized by a monster of the forest and for three years they have stayed their hand. Over and over again the Council and I have asked them for their aid but they continue to refuse."

Richard continued his speech. The faces of the people turned grim. If the witches had abandoned them then there would be no hope.

"But people do not despair. This is the beginning of a new era. Time changes all things and we can no longer wait idly for the witches to save us. We owe them nothing. We must move forward."

A look around told Caroline that a few people were beginning to see Richard's point but of course Jonathan had to speak his opinion.

"Why is a rabid animal any business of the witch's," Jonathan Baker was the first to speak again, "why have you and your men not killed the damned thing already? Why should we break an alliance generations old because you can't do your job?"

A few other men shouted in agreement but a glare from Elizabeth silenced them. There would not be another uprising. Richard shot her a glance and between them they agreed. It was time to tell the people the truth or at least the Council-approved version of the truth.

"Friends and Neighbors," he said not even bothering to acknowledge Baker's comment, "I think it is time that we come to terms with the fact that it is no natural thing that terrorizes us."

"What are ya suggesting?" Jonathan Baker replied suddenly convinced he was the village voice, "it is some spectre? Do you really expect us to believe such horseshit? It has been over a hundred years since we've even spoken of such things. Fairytales and witches are who have the power in the forest to make enemies of them would be foolish."

Jonathan may have had a point there but as soon as he had made light of the danger of the forest he had lost his support. His personal opinion had proved to be an unpopular one and had been the cause of his downfall. Of course they believed in spectres and demons and monsters. The people of Path knew monsters existed. In the shade of the pine or in the shadow cast by the full moon, evil was a perquisite to life.

"It is not a spectre that terrorizes us," Richard said.

"Then give us a name, a face for the terror that haunts us."

The corner of Richard's mouth twitched as he repressed a smile. He could tell Jonathan was losing his nerve. He looked out at the people, his people and knew that they too were being swayed to his cause.

Caroline's eyes were on Elena. The girl had lost the most of all of them to the beast. Surely she deserved a name. Elena already knew it, the Witch had made sure of that but she deserved to have it spoken aloud. She deserved that at least.

"We do not wish to make enemies of our former allies only to break ties with dead weight. I assure you that there are spectres and ghouls that haunt the night. We have know this all along," he said, "however we are not haunted, we have been under attack for three years. If it is a name you want. I will give it to you."

His words had drawn Caroline's attention and she looked away from her friend. Everyone held the same breath. Even Caroline bit the inside of her cheek. Then a soft warmth fell over Caroline's hand. She looked and found Elena standing besides her. Elena's eyes were wide and focused straight ahead, her expression as placid and unreadable as ever.

"Werewolf."

Immediately the people of the village were in an uproar. From besides her she heard a woman break out into tears. Some had outright left the building pulling their children along behind them, muttering curses or denial. But in all the commotion Caroline's gaze never strayed from Elena.

* * *

That night, darkness came into the village like a thief. It crawled up and over the roots of the trees and sank its teeth into the sky. Great clouds obscured any light from the stars from cutting through the darkness and shining down upon the people of this little village. Like castaways in a sea of trees filled with monsters too horrible to dream of, the people of the village crawled into their beds. They curled up around their loved ones and prayed.

Caroline, however, was not in bed. She had no one to curl around or with. She did not pray. The fire before her burned brightly cutting shapes across the room. She pulled her legs up and pressed her knees into her chest. There was only one good chair in the Forbes household. It had belonged to her father before he left. Her mother would not even look at it so the large cushioned chair fell to Caroline.

"Once upon a time there was a small fire," she said reciting from memory a story the Witch had taught her, "barely greater than a single flame. This fire fell in love with a woman from the sea for fire back in those days had hearts and dreams just as we do. They did however still lack limbs."

She was afraid. Of course she was as all children are in the nighttime. Even beneath her thick wool blanket with the fire breathing warmth upon her face Caroline shivered. Falling asleep alone was not a novel occurrence for Caroline especially on a full moon. In the last three years it had become routine for the Council members to hold a meeting on the night of the full moon. Elizabeth, being one of the highest-ranking Council members, was required to attend. More often than not Elizabeth would come home in the morning to find her daughter strewn out across her father's green felt chair, hair a mess and sleeping like the dead.

"But fire dances not at all like the sea and burn very differently," Caroline mumbled her eyes growing heavy. "They cannot hug and what is love without the pressing of lovers' lips in the pale moonlight?"

Her vision went in and out. Sometimes the fire before her took on a face and nose and mouth. She could see the lady from the sea, her hair white like sea foam and limbs moving fluid through the air. Then the stone fireplace and dark walls of the Forbes house would appear again. There was no magic fire or sea woman. Again Caroline picked up the story her own words nudging her gently to sleep and they would have if not for a sudden know upon the window.

_tap tap tap_

It was the sound of thin knuckles upon glass. Startled from her place between dreams and the waking world Caroline stood up from her chair. She glanced around and nearly had a heart attack when she saw a dark face at her window. Two hands clapped over her mouth as she swallowed her scream. It was Bonnie.

"What the hell are you doing out there?" Caroline said.

In the dim light Caroline could not see the way Bonnie rolled her eyes. The Witch's apprentice could not hear a word Caroline was saying and yet the blond girl continued to babble. The look on her face told Bonnie that Caroline was less than pleased at her sudden arrival.

"Are you crazy?" Caroline ranted on, "Do you know what tonight it is? How much trouble I'd be in if anyone sa- how much trouble you'd be in –"

_TAP TAP TAP_

The sound of Bonnie rapping loudly upon her window cut short Caroline's raving. Caroline was about to yell at Bonnie for interrupting her when she noticed the apprentice pointing to the right. It took her only a moment to realize that Bonnie was asking to be let in. How strange it was that she did not simply knock upon the door like any other person. Caroline could only assume that witches had their own ways and reasons well enough for them.

Bonnie disappeared from the window and Caroline made her way to the door. Sure enough as soon as she had opened the door Caroline stood face to face with the Witch's apprentice. Being a well-mannered young girl, Caroline began to invite her friend in but stopped abruptly biting down on her syllables. She took a step back from the threshold and motioned for her to cross. Bonnie smiled.

"You're a lot smarter than anyone gives you credit for," she said as she stepped over the threshold easily. Caroline scoffed.

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"You should."

Bonnie removed her dark cloak putting it neatly on the rack besides the door. Now that her cloak was off Caroline could see that Bonnie had been carrying on her person a small pouch. It was just as dark as Bonnie's robes but there seemed to be an iridescent quality to it. The light from the fire ran through the dark fabric making blue, purple and red dance upon it.

"What are you doing out here this late at night and on full moon?" Caroline hissed, "do you know how dangerous that is? You – you could have been –"

Bonnie silenced her with the wave of her hand very much like the Witch. She searched for the table and placed her bag upon it. Now fully in the light Caroline could see that the pouch was not iridescent at all. It seemed the quality was only a figure of her imagination. Caroline frowned.

"Don't worry," Bonnie said shaking Caroline from her confusion of the qualities of the pouch, "it may be dark but it is yet moonrise."

"Don't cut me off," Caroline said pouting like a child.

"Oh enough, it isn't me you should worry about," Bonnie said. "Have you already forgotten I'm a big bad witch? No silly werewolf would dare try me."

Caroline rolled her eyes but grimaced at the thought of her friend wandering through the forest at night. It was not only werewolves Caroline feared.

"Have you been taking your cup of water daily?" Bonnie asked, "the Witch wanted to know."

Caroline only nodded then something occurred to her. She found it strange that she had never wondered this before.

"Bonnie why does the Witch have only a title and no name?"

Bonnie looked at her strangely. She tilted her head to the side her free hair slanting with the motion. Bonnie turned away to her pouch before answering the question.

"Names have great power in particular they mark beginnings and ends," she mumbled so softly that Caroline could barely hear it, "the witches of the Path have no end. Death is only an illusion we are a part of nature forever. One day I too will have to give up my name."

Caroline could hear the sadness in the apprentice's admission though she did not quite understand it. Though she supposed it must be a sad thing to give up one's name to only be a part of something larger that stretches beyond infinity. It must be elating as well.

"Not to be rude, Bonnie," Caroline said, "but why are you here?"

Surely the young witch would not risk attack for petty reasons. Bonnie was not one for trivial pursuits.

"It couldn't be any other night," Bonnie replied quickly, "Caroline are you willing to grant us, the Witch and me, a boon."

Bonnie turned around and in her hand was a flask. Caroline realized that it was the same flask from three years ago that once held the medicine the Witch had made for Elena all those years ago. Confused, Caroline looked to Bonnie for some explanation from. The look on the other girl's face told Caroline that they had been less than truthful with her all those years ago.

"That wasn't an elixir for coughs was it?" Caroline said to which Bonnie could only shake her head 'no'.

"There's only so much I can tell you. You should know by now that the Truth is costly and this Truth I'm afraid you and I cannot afford," Bonnie said.

Caroline could see just how uncomfortable the Apprentice felt. Bonnie was not very keen on making boons. They always turned out to be far more costly than expected and what you asked for always turned sour in the end. Bonnie had grown fond of the blond girl, though perhaps not as much as the Witch had, and she could safely consider Caroline her friend. However, Bonnie did not enjoy being in debt to anyone.

"Well what can you tell me?" Caroline motioned for Bonnie to take a seat at the table.

Bonnie declined.

"Not much, only that our goal is to protect both Elena and the people of this village. From what, I cannot say."

Silence fell upon them. Bonnie waited patiently as Caroline considered her choice.

"I'm not going to lie, Caroline," Bonnie could not meet her eyes as she spoke. Instead she began to smooth out her dress, her thin graceful hands fluttering about. "We have enemies in this village. Some have yet to reveal themselves and some have always made themselves known. You'll be in danger if you do this for us."

At the word "enemies" Caroline sucked in a sharp breath. She wanted to tell Bonnie about the Council, about the village meeting. However the words would not come.

"Why did you not just go to Elena directly?" Caroline asked instead.

"They'll be watching her."

Caroline didn't need any clarification on who 'they' were. The past two days the Council had been keeping a close eye on Elena. Never did she see the girl alone. Often times either Logan Fell or some other Council lackey was always hanging around. If Bonnie knew this then perhaps she did not need her warning.

"But this will help? I mean," Caroline sighed and searched for the right words, "it will protect us, all of us? You and the Witch too?"

Bonnie's eyes softened. She nodded, her lips holding a smile. Guilt racked the young apprentice. She knew the danger that she was putting the other girl in but she was not quite sure Caroline understood.

"Then I'll do it."

And for the next ten minutes Bonnie explained that Elena needed to consume about a fourth of the liquid inside the flask once a week. It was best for this to be done in secret. Not even Elena should know of it. And then as soon as her instruction was done, Bonnie began to leave. She gathered her pouch and put on her coat.

"It's getting colder," Caroline said as she watched the other girl wrap herself up in her dark cloak. Under the dark cover of night she would be almost invisible.

Bonnie looked the other girl over. She had noticed that no one else was in the house though she had spotted two beds in the other room. The look on Caroline's face told Bonnie the story of her solitude. Loneliness, it seemed, was a curse that would not spare even little girls. The apprentice stepped over the threshold but turned back to her friend before she began her trek back home.

"A word of advice," she said, "deals made in the dark can only be settled in darkness."

There was no way to tell why she had felt the need to give Caroline those cryptic words of caution. Bonnie had always had been particularly gifted at clairvoyance. Even before her formal training had begun Bonnie had been something of prodigy at intuition. So when those words came to her suddenly she knew that they were meant for Caroline. She only worried why.

Caroline was confused by Bonnie's words but committed them to memory. If there was anything she had learned in the last few year it was that words of a witch had power. They had meaning and weight. Bonnie offered Caroline a reassuring smile before turning to leave. However, before Bonnie could get too far however Caroline called out to her.

"Bonnie! Be careful don't like you know get – don't – don't die or whatever. All right?"

Bonnie grinned back at her, a wicked smile winking brightly in the dark.

"You're a good friend, Caroline."

"I know." Caroline said with as much cheek as she could muster.

The effect fell flat. Caroline could not help but continue to worry. She waited at the door leaning against the frame until Bonnie disappeared into the darkness. Even when the witch had evaporated into the darkness Caroline lingered at her doorstep. She recalled the words of the stranger. Though it had been only two days ago it felt like an age ago, an age of terror and loneliness.

_Isn't it a strange feeling to be so lonely and still want nothing more than to be alone?_

It was stranger still to be surrounded by neighbors and friends and not see a face among them who would offer a young girl comfort and company on a cold night. As Caroline turned from the empty sight of her friend disappearing into the night something strange caught her eye. It was a boy lingering at the village boundary. Upon closer inspection Caroline realized that the boy was Tyler Lockwood.

"Tyler?" She whispered as he stepped over the village boundary into the forest beyond.

She didn't even remember to close the door on her way out.

* * *

Caroline found it hard to keep up. Labored breath gave birth to small plumes of gossamer mist before her face obscuring what little she could see. Mason had been right. Winter was very close and night had begun to fall quicker and darker than before. The moon could not keep up. Whatever light the stars had to offer was hidden behind great curtains of black clouds. She could barely see her hand before her face let alone Tyler who was far ahead of her.

As she followed behind him Caroline wanted nothing more than to call out to Tyler, drag him back to the village and slap him straight across his damned face but she was too afraid to even make a sound. The night seemed to quiet and surely the smallest sound, even a whimper or fear would echo out to any beast or monster hoping to get a taste of their blood. Tyler, she knew, had been out with the men and women during the hunt. He had been training amongst them especially Mason. However while walking through the wood he hinted at no experience. His feet beat heavily against the ground creating muted cracks as twigs and dry leaves gave way beneath the weight of his heavy boots. It was because of those sounds alone that Caroline was able to even find her way in the dark.

They walked on for another ten minutes, one in silent terror the other in grim determination. After what seemed to Caroline like an eternity, some light peaked out from behind the clouds. The full moon winked at them from up in the sky. Caroline could finally see Tyler about twenty feet ahead of her. She began to run towards him but stopped. They had come to some kind of slope that jutted into the air from the forest floor. Cut into cliff face that fell sharply from the slope's side was a cavern where a small spot of orange glowed.

Cast in silver light, Tyler moved slowly like a spectre up to the cave and entered. A terrifying thought occurred to Caroline. All the stories she knew of ghosts and spirits leading people to their doom came suddenly to her mind. She realized that she had made a grave mistake. Frozen with fear, Caroline considered her options. She could turn back, try to find her way through the forest and pray she made it back in one piece.

Or she could follow him.

Already the clouds were moving, obscuring the light of the moon that had only just begun to creep up into the sky. The forest grew dimmer and dimmer. The gray world was turning to black and Caroline knew she'd never find her way back on her own in the dark.

Shaking like a leaf she pushed herself forward. More than ever she felt the cold. She opened her mouth to call out louder but silence strangled the sound into a whimper. There was a soft rustle of leaves and Caroline snapped left towards the sound. There was nothing but silver light and trees. She moved faster. Left foot then the right, when she got there the stone ledge was like ice on her bare feet.

"Tyler?" she said but the fear chopped up the name, "Tyler, please."

She took another step forward. A sharp stone caught her foot but she didn't notice the pain. It was too cold and her feet had gone numb.

"Tyler," she said again now only a couple feet from the opening of the cave.

She was shaking now. So violently that she was sure she would fall off that ledge and to her death. The moon had sunk into the cloud. The orange firelight dancing at her toes was the only illumination left. Her lip trembled, breath going shallow. There was a crack like twigs snapping underfoot.

"Tyler?"

She stepped into the light and saw what darkness can do.

Someone screamed. She wasn't sure who because there was no time to care. Her knees hit the ground. She got up and ran further. Hot breath hit the air. The frosted mist of it came and then melted into the air around her flustered face. A branch caught her cheek and sliced into the soft flesh. She paused to grip her face. It was her undoing.

Suddenly there was a heavy weight on her back. It knocked the wind from her and pinned her to the ground.

"Tyler, Tyler," Caroline sobbed finally losing all sense and reason. She could care less who heard now. Death seemed a certainty. "What was that thing? What was it? It was a werewolf wasn't it? We have to tell them, everyone. We have to warn them."

"Shut up!" Tyler hissed clamping a hand over her mouth.

She continued to cry. Her tears, spittle and snot ran down onto his rough hand.

"You can't tell anyone about him," Tyler said.

The tears stopped. The snot remained. At her suddenly silence Tyler removed his hand half relieved and half confused.

"Him?" she choked on the pronoun. Her pause was deafening. "My god he's Mason. It's Mason. We have to warn the villagers. We have to go to your fath-"

The words died on her lips as a smack echoed out into the forest. The clouds swirled again as if god had plunged his hand into the liquid sky. The light of the moon shone down dimly through a thin curtain of clouds. Her cheek was red.

"You can't tell anyone," he hissed, "I swear, you tell anyone I'll - I'll kill you myself."

"Tyler," Caroline whispered sounding more heartbroken than scared.

"You can't tell anyone Caroline," Tyler said, "swear to me you won't tell."

It was then that Caroline realized that Tyler was a child. For all his wise talk of time and adult things Tyler was still just a child whose father never loved him. The curve of his eyes caught the silver light and Caroline saw tears there. Tears that matched her own.

"I swear," she whispered tears filling her eyes.

She wouldn't say it but Tyler could feel her accusations. _How could you? How could you betray me like this? You've betrayed us all._ But he would be wrong. Caroline understood better than anyone. Convinced she would not breathe a word of what she saw to anyone, Tyler stood to let her up. He offered her a helping hand but she would not have it. Instead she pulled herself up by gripping the bark of a tree with her fingers. Pulling herself up she glared holes into the ground.

"I'll walk you back to the village," he said and before she could scorn him with a refusal he continued, "the Beast won't hurt another Lockwood. Its safest this way."

He gave her no time to process that information. Grabbing her hand roughly he led her back to the village. As soon as they crossed over the village boundary Caroline pulled her hand away. She refused to look at him. Tyler could not face the sight of her also. They parted ways each one never looking back.

For a month Caroline remained silent about both her secrets. The days passed in blur. Every week Caroline would invite Elena over for breakfast or for company and always she would get the girl to drink or eat at least one thing. Of course she saw her friend at other times as well though she was always flanked either by Jenna or Matt. Then of course there was Logan Fell, one of the Council's lackeys, slinking around in the background.

In no time at all the night before the next full moon arrived finding Caroline again alone in her own home. She did not curl up onto her father's chair. Instead she seated herself at the kitchen table. The old wood of her straight-backed chair creaked as she shifted her weight trying to find a comfortable position.

Caroline was confident that no one knew anything was different. Two secrets sat deadly on her shoulders but she was sure she had worn them well. Her eyes began to droop. The light from the fire danced in shapes across the room. They looked like words to her dreary mind. She fancied she could almost make out a word, then a sentence, then a whole story. There was a knock.

Immediately her eyes shot to the widow directly across from her. She had expected to she a dark face there peering in a look of fond irritation twisting her mouth into a cross been a frown and grin. The window was empty. Again a knock sounded and she realized that someone was at her door. When she opened the door, Caroline was surprised to find Elena standing on her doorstep.

"Elena," Caroline said surprised to see not Bonnie but Elena at her door, "what are you doing here?"

"Were you expecting someone else?"

Yes, actually she would have even expected Tyler before Elena. With the full moon being only a night away she had expected the youngest Lockwood to come by if only to repeat his threat.

"No, of course not I- what are you doing here?"

"I knew that you'd be alone. The Council is holing up at the Lockwood house doing whatever it is that they do and I thought you might need a friend tonight."

Silence fell between them. It had been a while since Caroline and Elena had a sleepovers. Jeremy had become Elena's first obligation after her parents died and she didn't feel right leaving him home alone. Elena's youth had died and so Caroline had tried her best to smother her own.

"I know something's been bothering you lately," Elena said shifting uncomfortably under Caroline's gaze. " And its okay if you can't talk about it and I've been so caught in Aunt Jenna and just everything I haven't even bothered to ask."

Caroline was about to answer but Elena continued on.

"Aunt Jenna says I have to be home on the night of the full moon but I thought I'd come because…because I've been a terrible friend. I thought I start trying to make it up," Elena said blurting the words out so quick Caroline could hardly keep up.

Elena inhaled deeply as soon as she finished her speech. At Caroline's silence, took a breath again more than ready to start another apologetic rant but Caroline cut her off. Her thin pale arms were tangled tightly around Elena's shoulders. When Elena managed to get some air into her lungs, Elena laughed.

"Does this mean I can come in?"

"Oh! Yeah! Of course," Caroline said jumping back laughing.

Elena eagerly stepped out of the cold into the warm house. That night Caroline fell asleep in her own bed. There were no whispered stories from her lonely lips lulling her to sleep. With her friend curled up besides her, giggling about something or other sleep came to her easily.

* * *

_Breath. Hot. It comes in plumes of white moisture forming small clouds in the air before the wolf's snout. The Beast pulls back its lips. Teeth. Anger. Revenge. The jaw drops and snaps up but there is no sound. Again and the world flashes red, tilting on its axis. She looks up into the blue sky. It curves, bending around her as if to pull her into an embrace._

_The world is round._

_She is a beating heart, flushed cheeks, sweaty palms. Bare feet in the snow._

_The Beast is close. It is far. Then closer again but always directly in front. Always silent. She takes a step back. Then another._

**_Don't worry, sweetheart. He can only hurt you in the dark._**

_She knows the voice but the name eludes her. He is red as well. Between his teeth, dried under his nails, dripping into his eyes and all down his hair. The sunlight looks wrong on him. His skin is pale and almost blue. His lips are chapped. He hasn't breathed in a while._

**_Though if you want my advice_**_, he smiles the skin of his lips cracking and then he's red there too, **I'd take care of him while you have the chance, before he decides you're too much of a liability. Never trust a mutt, love.**_

_Her eyes snap to him._

_But he's left her. In the snow. In the light. With the Beast._

_Ah yes, the Beast. It snarls again snapping at her. She wonders why the snow doesn't feel cold._

**_The dead are colder than snow._**

_Then she takes a step forward. Another, another. They are red. Then she's running. In the sun. In the snow. Towards the Beast.  
Her hand draws back. She aims for the heart._

* * *

Caroline gasped. Warmth crowded over her. The heat was suffocating and she pushed at it but found that it was the soft cotton of her blanket embracing her. The smell of sweat and peppermint leaves tickled her nose. Elena's hair had fallen over Caroline's face. The other girl's cheek was pressed against Caroline's shoulder.

"Elena," Caroline whispered placing a gossamer touch upon the other girl's cheek.

Elena mumbled something then turned away. Light filtered in through the window just above her bed. The moon shined brightly against the black satin of the sky. Though obscured by trees and clouds the moon cut through to the two girls bathing them in cold pale light.

"Elena," Caroline said raising her voice ever so slightly then shook Elena's shoulder.

"Mmm, what is it Caroline," she mumbled, "'m sleeping."

"I had a dream."

"That's nice," Elena murmured falling slowly again in to sleep.

"If you knew who the werewolf was would you kill them?"

"What?" Elena sat up, "what are you talking about?"

Caroline sat up as well leaning all her weight upon her hands.

"The werewolf," she hissed suddenly afraid that someone could be listening, "the one who has been terrorizing us the one who –"

_Killed your father and ruined your family forever._

Caroline could not bring herself to utter the words. That would have been cruel. Elena did not reply but Caroline felt her tense. Perhaps she should have stopped there. If she had only bit her tongue and gone back to sleep she might have saved herself some trouble. But the questions burned at the back of her throat. She was certain if she did not ask she would die of the fire burning in her gut.

"Even if he had a family, if he was loved would you still kill him? If you had the chance, the strength, would you?"

Elena answered her without hesitation.

"Yes."

* * *

Day of the Full Moon

There was a dangerous energy in the village the day of the full moon. After three years of terrified stalemate there seemed to be a breaking in the cycle. The Council, against the suggestion of Richard Lockwood, had gathered together a group of the strongest, fastest, most skilled hunters. At twilight they would head out into the woods and seek out the werewolf. If they found him in human form they would bring him in to face justice before the Council. If he or she was found in wolf form, they would have no choice but to kill it.

As for Caroline, she was infected with a different kind of energy. All throughout the day she had fidgeted and could not stay still for even a full minute. In the morning after Elena had bid her farewell Caroline had gone over to her mother's side of the bedroom. There, beneath the folds of cushions and blankets hardly ever used or slept in she found her mother's hunting blade. When Caroline was only ten, Elizabeth had showed her the exact space the knife was hidden.

_"One day you'll need this knife," Elizabeth had said making quick work of the sheets and cushion of her bed, pulling them aside to reveal the spotless blade."It may save your life. It may save the life of someone more important than yourself. Never forget it is there."_

After she had extracted the blade from her mother's sheets, Caroline had stripped a piece of cloth from them and fastened it to her leg. She spent the rest of the day going about her routine with the cool metal of her mother's knife pressed into the soft flesh of her right thigh. Every moment, every movement she was aware of the weapon and what it meant. She was going to murder Mason Lockwood.

When the sun began to fall deep into the horizon people gathered to see the hunters off. Caroline noticed that neither Tyler nor Mason were amongst the farewell group. Night came, the hunting group disappeared behind the trees and all the people disbursed. They went home to eat dinner with their families, to lay in bed and dream.

Caroline would not be joining them. As the last light of day trickled down from the sky Caroline crossed over the boundary of the village. She slipped into the forest without a sound.

It took Caroline longer than she expected to find her way even more so in the dark. Night came fast. She found it difficult to remember the direction and find any trail that Tyler might have taken. She was no hunter, just a girl with a knife strapped to her thigh. As the light went from the world great clouds began to move across the sky. Caroline kept low to the ground.

She knew when she finally had come to the right place. The cavern was a jagged gash in the face of a steep cliff that followed the side of a slope. It cut into the side about ten feet up or so from the ground. A shelf curved down from the cavern leading safely to the ground but Caroline couldn't afford to take it. If she was going to take down a grown man she would need to take him by surprise.

A fire had been lit in the cave. She squinted and saw, pressed darkly into the orange light, the shadow of a man. She could only assume it was Mason. Pressing herself low to the ground, Caroline made her way towards the slope. She took her time. Her hands shook and her teeth chattered. She had left her cloak behind. It would have only held her down, her shoes as well. Crawling on the forest floor, it occurred to Caroline that she must have looked like a feral child.

She stalked up the ledge, pushing her back into the stonewall. The blood was pounding so loud in her ears. Though she tried to keep her breathing steady and soundless but by the time she reached the mouth of the cave her heartbeat was wild and her breath uneven and loud. He had his back to her.

"Are the hunters distracted?" he said the low sound of his voice startling her.

She had no reply. Then suddenly the clouds shifted in the sky and silver light poured over her. He began to turn and Caroline leaped forward. It was a miracle he had even fallen over under her weight. She was not stick thin but she was still young and still much smaller than he. At first he looked confused, horrified even by the blond monster that had attacked him. He even struggled but then he recognized her. Beneath the dirt on her face and the twigs and leaves in her hair, she was Caroline. His lips wrapped around the shape of her name but no sound was made. He went still and looked almost grateful as she reached for the knife at her thigh.

"I'm sorry," she whispered raising her the blade above her head.

The blade was almost to his throat when a scream tore through the air. Caroline felt herself hit the cold stone floor. The knife was knocked from her hand. The next thing she knew her back was pressed into the cavern wall, orange light painting her skin.

"What the fuck, Caroline," Tyler shouted into her face bits of spit flying from his mouth onto her face, "what the fuck are you doing?"

"What are you doing?" she screamed back hysterical with her guilt and fury.

She had almost killed a monster. She had almost killed a man.

"He's killed people, Tyler. He killed Elena's father. He ruined our lives!"

When he turned his face away, she lost all sense. She began to twist and wind her body. Again and again she screamed out her accusations. The air began to stuck to the back of her throat and she was reduced to choking on her sobs.

What had they become? Were they monsters too? All the while Mason remained quiet. Back still pressed into the ground he made no move to get up.

"I know, I know," Tyler mumbled over and over his voice breaking down until it was nothing more than a low moan, "but he's my family, Care. He's the only one who still wants me. He's the only one who cares."

She wanted to tell him that she was supposed to be his family. She had spent the first twelve years of her life pledging loyalty to him and she had made good on her word. She could have been anything he needed if he had only let her. She could have been anyone's family, Elena, Matt's, even the monsters from the witches' stories. She would have given them everything if only they'd want her. But she said nothing. She let Tyler drop her to the ground as he put his hands over his face. Crying, he admitted everything.

"I tried to go to the witches," Tyler said. "They wouldn't help me. They said there was nothing they could do and if there was they wouldn't."

She watched him fall to his knees. Her friend curled into himself. Something glinted at the corner of her eye. It was her mother's knife. She looked from the knife back to her friend then down at her own torn and bloody dress. They were only children. Keeping secrets and attempting murder, they were too young for this. Behind them Mason was still on the ground but now his eyes were on the sky. The moon was rising.

"They'll help me," Caroline said, "I granted them a boon. They owe me."

She caught his eyes with her own. Eyes ringed red and nose dripping he looked like a toddler throwing a tantrum. Mason screamed. The sound of bones cracking filled the air and Tyler immediately grabbed hold of Caroline. He rushed her down the cliff ledge. Stumbling together, they almost fell to the ground.

"Where are we going?" Caroline cried trying her best to keep up with Tyler's pace.

"We have to get you back to the village or back to the path," he replied out of breath.

Her leg caught a raised tree root and she hit the ground. Her wrist was pulled free from his hand during the fall. When he reached out to grab it again she swatted him away.

"We can't leave him," she said, "there are people out there. He'll tear them to shreds."

"There's nothing we can do!" Tyler shouted going in to grab her arm.

Caroline evaded his grip.

"How much time do we have left?" Her breath came out in great white puffs of mist obscuring her face from Tyler's view.

He couldn't see the crazy idea forming in her mind.

"What?" he replied.

"How much time?" she shouted stepping forward to grip his shoulders tightly.

Tyler's mind went over all the times he'd witnessed the change. There was no solid number. The transformation had begun to take less and less time. There was no way to tell how long they had for sure.

"Not much."

"Which way is north?" Caroline asked and then Tyler realized what she planned to do.

She was going to make a run for it. If she could reach the witches in time then they could save the hunters. They could save everyone. One golden opportunity to erase all their sins, they had one chance.

"I can try to help him keep off the transformation," Tyler offered. "He won't hurt me. North is that way."

She nodded curtly then turned to run but he stopped her. A cloud eclipsed the light of the moon casting them into the dark. She could not even see his face in front of her.

"Thank you, Caroline," came whisper from the dark and then his hand was gone from her arm and she was alone.

Her eyes adjusted to the dark slowly but Caroline ran as fast as she could. The moon would not break away from the clouds. She was so cold but Caroline kept moving forward. Sharp stones and broken twigs dug into the soft flesh of her feet. Branches and thorns cut at her but she kept going. Nothing could stop her except for an unexpected depression of the ground that caught her by surprise.

Caroline hit the dirt hard. The curve of her forehead clipped a boulder directly ahead making the world spin. When it stopped there was light again and a man was standing above her.

"Now how did I know we'd meet again, sweetheart?"

He was a much different creature in the dark of night. In the sunshine he had looked ethereal like a seraph but now he looked like the Devil himself. His broad noble features that had once hypnotized her were now harsh. Still he was handsome and the curl of his smile hinted at charm but she could see clearly now that he was no natural man. Shadow cut into his face sharpening his cheekbones and deepening the shadows around his eyes. The pink of his lips looked nearly red and she could have sworn his eyes flashed yellow. Again he was dressed finely like some kind of gentleman or lord. Around his shoulders was a heavy cloak.

"Oh no, no please," she said and her terror only seemed to please him, "you can't - no I have to – I"

Remembering herself Caroline went silent. Tyler was still out there. It would do him no good if she went and babbled about him to some other monster. Caroline struggled backwards but her head still felt light. Her movements made the world tilt every which way. In a flash he was crouched down before her. She hadn't even seen him move.

"Have to what, love?" he asked smiling sweetly at her. "What are you running from?"

Caroline held her silence. His smile turned sour. A grim violence darkened the expression on his face. His generous mouth was pulled into a frown. His hand took hold of her face forcing her to look into his eyes.

"_Tell_. _Me_."

For a long moment Caroline was frozen. She considered her options. She still might have time. If she could escape this man, monster or whatever he was then she might still be able to get to the witches in time. Whatever game he wanted to play she needed to win.

"To," she whimpered, "I'm running towards something."

He tilted his head. For a second Caroline was certain he would not believe her. His grip tightened and she knew if he wanted he could crush her jaw. His looked away then back to her and smiled.

"Is that so?"

His hands left her face in a slow graceful motion. The rough skin of his fingertips slipped down her face making Caroline shiver. He curled a finger down beneath her chin and smiled at her like he was pleased.

"The Witch's cottage just north of my village," Caroline answered feeling her skin go warm.

He laughed. It was a cruel sound.

"The witches? I'm afraid you've been running in the exactly wrong direction," he said. "It will take you hours now just to find your way back before moonrise."

Hours. Caroline did not have hours. She had a little over thirty minutes at best when she started out. There was no way she'd make it in time to get help. Mason would turn and the hunters would find him. Or he would find them, either way one of them would die tonight.

The stranger watched her take the news. He could see the wheels turning in her pretty little head. A range of emotion played across her face and he took the time to savor and taste all of them. Fear gave way to despair then turned to realization.

"Are you a werewolf too?" she asked wide eyes looking up at him from the ground.

She felt dizzy at the thought but she began to rise to her feet. Her knees wobbled and she was certain she would fall again but the stranger caught her. Leaning in far too close for comfort he grinned at her as if they had just shared a private joke though she had no idea what it could be.

"Oh sweetheart, they don't have a word for what I am," he said lowly into her ear, "But I'll tell you what I'm not, uncharitable."

He let her go so swiftly she had to grab hold of the tree just behind her to steady herself. Like a vulture he watched as she began to inspect whatever damage she had sustained. Touching her forehead gingerly then running her hands over her dress and hair trying to straighten out both. Ah, she still had the nerve to be vain! She looked quite more the mess than she had when first met her. He watched the blood drip down for the cut on her forehead. Soaking into to the soft blond line of her eyebrow, it was almost teasing him.

"What do you mean?"

"I can get you there, to the Witch's cottage in almost no time at all," he drawled the words slipping past his lips lazily, "but in return I want something of equal value."

She almost laughed in his face. Dirty, tired and bleeding, Caroline was more than discontent with her situation. She saw the corner of his mouth twitch when she scoffed softly. There was absolutely nothing she could give him. She didn't even have her knife. It was still in that godforsaken cave.

"I have nothing."

He smiled at her naivety. How sweet it must be to know such ignorance.

"Everyone has something to offer, love," he said then paused mulling over his options.

He motions for her to come closer. When she took only a tiny step away from the tree trunk she smirked.

"Closer, sweetheart," he said and Caroline had no choice but to step forward.

He watched her intently, her cheeks burning at his attentions. The pink looked pretty on her pale cheeks though he thought she'd look better in red. After a few seconds of deliberation, a smile slipped easily over his lips. He found what he wanted.

"Your heart," he said.

"What?" Caroline said her cheeks flushing pink.

He almost laughed but kept to his smile. How sweet, she thought he meant her love.

"Yes," he drawled circling her, "I could just reach in and pluck it out. Monsters love to feast upon the hearts of pretty little girls like yourself. Didn't anyone ever tell you that?"

Caroline felt sick at his words but she swallowed it down.

Perhaps it was a defect of her birth. Loyalty seemed to be in her blood; it had seeped into her skin while she cooked in her mother's womb. William had abandoned them both but they had yet to abandon him. Her mother may have refused to look at or sit in his chair but she never threw it out. More than just a couple of men had offered to take Elizabeth's hand but she had refused them all. She kept Williams name and made sure to keep it clean. Only death would part them. Elizabeth still honored the vows she made to William. Now Caroline would honor the loyalty she had pledged to Tyler all those years ago. Even in the face of death she would not abandon him. And Caroline was certain that she was staring into the face of the man that would end her life.

"Just _my_ heart?" she asked.

"Just the one," he replied.

She could hear the blood pounding in her ear. What she didn't know was he could hear it too. Such sweet music.

"I accept."

He smiled triumphant.

"Close your eyes, sweetheart and count to fifteen."

He wrapped his arms around her then there was a rush of air. Caroline squeezed her eyes shut and began to count aloud. She was inclined to speaking. Not always an endearing trait but it fit her well. Just as she started to say fifteen, he placed her onto the ground. She opened her eyes and gasped. Immediately she began to run towards the familiar sight but stopped. She glanced back at him as if asking for permission. What a polite little thing.

"Go ahead, love," he said, "I'll wait for you out here."

She nodded slowly her gaze lingering. Then she was off crossing over onto the path then into the clay hut. Almost immediately he could hear the voices of the Witch and her apprentice worrying over the girl. The Witch especially seemed to fawn over her. Then suddenly he heard the girl cut them off. She demanded payment for a boon she had granted them. Then all was silent.

He half expected them to kill his girl before he could even get a piece but instead the Witch ordered her apprentice to gather some fennel, monkshood and a few other things. Then there was a slam and the Witch stepped through her door. He backed into the shadows as the Witch scanned the forest. She knew he was there. Then the apprentice was besides her.

"There are monsters about, dear heart," the Witch said leaning down to place her hands either side of his girl's face. "Stay here."

He smirked. The girl didn't answer to witches anymore.

Then in a swirl of dark robes the two witches disappeared from sight. His girl then stepped over the threshold. The light of the moon shined down on her unobstructed by trees and clouds and for the first time he got a good look at her. Her face was comely and still round with youth. She was still very much a child but he could see the potential for beauty. Her hair though a tangled, dirty mess was a bright yellow color like sunshine or marigolds. She looked out of place in the silver light of the full moon. She was no creature of the night. Her kind belonged to the morning, to midday, to the color and warmth of daylight. She belonged to him now at least her heart did.

He stepped out of the shadows. When she did not come to him immediately he called to her.

"Come along, sweetheart," he said, "time to pay your dues."

She hesitated. Looking around at her surroundings, she seemed to be saying goodbye. Then she hobbled towards him. The adrenaline had run dry and now her poor raw feet could barely carry her to him. As soon as she was off the path he took hold of her making sure she could not run.

"If you had stayed on the path," he told her honestly, "I'd never be able to get to you. I am unable to enter or tread there."

The girl nodded more tired than scared now. He didn't appreciate that. After all the effort he had put in to being terrifying she should be terrified. It was only the polite thing to do.

"I figured," she said stone-faced but he could detect just the slightest bit of bitterness, "but I made a deal with you and I guess killing me isn't the worst you could do."

"Oh?"

But the girl refused to answer him. Such a stubborn little thing. Even when she was staring into the face of death she had the nerve to hold her tongue.

"What I want to know is how a lovely little girl like you got mixed up with werewolves in the first place? Running with the wrong crowd lately, sweetheart?"

She looked away and pouted as if to say 'get on with it'.

"All business and no play will make you a dull girl," he teased but she would not crack.

She tried to lean away from him but he wrapped his arms around her tighter. She sighed. It was a delicate sound.

"You know it's bad manners to be so scornful," he murmured, "I could tear your throat out and leave you to gurgle back your own blood until you drowned in it. Don't you think it's only polite to show a little respect?"

"You've already got my heart and you want my respect too?" she mumbled and he laughed outright.

This time the sound was not so horrible. Caroline almost found it pleasing to her ears. Then he returned to himself. He smiled down at her. He always seemed to be smiling. He must be a man quite satisfied with himself, Caroling thought. Though now being able to see him close up she realized that the smile did not quite reach his eyes.

"Well love," he said, "I believe it's that time."

He pulled back his hand curling his fingers like they were claws. Caroline snapped her eyes shut and held her breath. Instinctively she leaned away from him. She began to count back from a hundred hoping it would all be over soon when she felt cool fingers brush the top of her ear. He tucked a strand of yellow hair behind her ear.

"What's your name?"

Confused by his question Caroline took a moment to respond. She had to let out the breath she had been holding first.

"Caroline," she whispered as if it were a secret.

_Names have power_, Caroline remembered Bonnie telling her, _they mark beginnings and ends._

He nodded like he had known that was it all along, like she had answered correctly.

"Caroline," he spoke her name reverently rolling the syllables over his tongue as if to taste each one. "You're a rare breed, Caroline. It would be a crime to let you go to waste."

"Wha-?"

He released her suddenly and she stumbled backward.

"I've changed my mind," he said placing his hands behind his back. "Instead of your heart I'll have a favor. I'll grant you a boon."

"A boon?" she asked breathlessly.

She was going to live.

"Yes a boon for you heart, though I think I'll wait to have it repaid," he said. "However, I will return for it. Perhaps not tomorrow or the next day or even in twenty years but mark my words. I will return and you will pay your debt."

Caroline only nodded too weary to care for his threat. All she wanted was to lie down and sleep for days. She could not even be properly excited that everything had seemingly worked out perfectly despite the debt now hanging over her head. The witches had gone to Tyler. She had escaped certain doom but again Bonnie's words from before came to her.

_Deals made in the dark must be settled in darkness._

Looking up at the man before her. It occurred to her that she had not even his name and now she was making deals with him for her heart. Another deal made in the dark and Caroline couldn't help but wonder what dark purpose it would serve. She wondered if she would survive it.

"Why you look absolutely exhausted, love," he said suddenly his brow tightening into a wrinkle across his forehead.

A frown formed on his lips. Caroline realized that this was his look of concern. It looked wrong, unnatural. He was not really concerned. He was playing at concerned.

"What's your name?" she said.

She would at least have the name of her would be murderer. They were partners now, bound together by their boon.

"There's no need to for you to know, love."

"I've told you mine and you've already threatened my life twice," she replied unwilling to let it go, "it's only polite."

He raised an eyebrow at her nerve. That seemed to be something she had in abundance. He did not say a word but the silent threat was obvious. However Caroline would not back down. He had already threatened her with death, pain, violence. If he did decide to take her life then he would have at least saved her the trouble of having to pay him back.

"Klaus," he replied.

"Klaus," she repeated back to him and he nodded smiling.

She half expected him to pat her on the head and give her a treat.

"Best be off love," he said far too chipper for a man who had almost just ripped out the heart of a young girl, "I'm sure there will be people wondering where you are."

No one was waiting for her. She almost told him that but held her silence. There was no need to give him anything more of herself. Instead she simply nodded and turned from him. She was about to head back towards the path but was stopped by the weight of two hands upon her shoulder. Klaus had placed his cloak around her and smiled at the sight. He knew she'd look good in red.

"It's cold out," he said when her eyes slipped over to him questioning his action. "We don't want you to freeze to death out there. I'd never get my favor then."

Caroline frowned. It was a fine cloak better than anything she owned. However she did not like the idea of accepting things from him. She had the oddest feeling that anything he offered, common courtesy included, had a price. Then suddenly he inhaled deeply, his eyes shut briefly then snapped back open. He smiled like he had a secret.

"Off you go, then," he said pushing her forward towards the path, "do hurry though, love. There's something I think you'll want to see."

She questioned him again with her eyes but he shook his head. Placing his hands behind his back again, he motioned for her to go with a tilting of his head. Caroline glared at him for a second not trusting a word he said. When it seemed he would not speak another word she began to hobble towards the path glancing back at him every few seconds to make sure he kept his distance. Klaus waited patiently for her to run along. All the while he kept that pleasant smile on his face. It was very nearly encouraging. When she finally did reach the familiar marked earth of the path, Caroline had the oddest feeling that she should say goodbye. So she raised her hand and waved. He did not return it but bowed ever so slightly. Perhaps he truly was some sort of gentleman.

"Goodbye, Caroline," he said. "until we meet again."

Then he was gone. All traces of him were reduced to a smudge of blue and golden hair then nothing but empty air. Caroline lingered on for just a moment longer inhaling deeply. The rush of oxygen into her lungs was almost painful but lovely at the same time. She was alive.

Her feet began to move forward. She was homeward bound but something nagged at the back of her mind. It was what he had said. There was something waiting for her at the village, something she needed to see. As her thoughts ran down that dangerous track her pace began to pick up. Faster and faster until she was running again the back of Klaus's cloak billowed out behind her. She kept going until she thought her heart would burst. She ran. She ran and then when she finally saw the tops of the houses of her village she ran even faster. She didn't stop until she found herself in the center of it.

There was nothing. All the lights had been turned out and not a soul was awake. She briefly considered forgetting all about Klaus's words and Klaus entirely. Her eyes swept through the village once more. There was nothing. She began to turn in the direction of her house but stopped. Her breath caught at the sight of him, Tyler standing just outside of the barrier. He was red stain upon the dark forest.

"Tyler, Tyler, my god what happened to you?" she cried too loud.

A few windows lit up but Caroline could not bring herself to care. He was covered in blood. Great tears rolled down her face when she reached him. She searched him out for injury her hands flittering over his arms and face. She mumbled apologies and consolation all the while chocking on the thick saliva gathering at the back of her throat making her hiccup. When she found no damage, it dawned on her what had happened.

"Oh god what have you done?" Caroline whispered. "What have you done?"

He looked up at her. The color of his eyes shifted from brown to bright yellow.

"I killed it," he said, "I killed the wolf.

* * *

**A/N: and that's all folks. See you at the sequel.**

**p.s. brownie points to anyone who knows what the title of this chapter means and to what if refers right off the back. If you get it right I will grant you a boon. teehee.**

**p.p.s I'm just suprised nobody has asked about the other man who died in the same werewolf attack as Grayson Gilbert.**


	5. AUTHOR'S NOTE, About that sequel

Hullo everyone. It's been ages, I know. I am so so soooo sorry. A lot of shit went down for me and I kinda pushed back writing the sequel for a long time and for the most part I am nonexistent in the klaroline/TVD fandom (I think I got kicked out lol). But I really wanted to finish what I started with this fic so I will be writing the sequel, titled "Debitum Naturae" (brownie points if you understand Latin) and right now I have the prologue up if you want to check it out. I aiming for the first chapter to be done by the end of next week and posted around Monday or Tuesday.

Anyway I just wanted to say thank you to all of you guys for reading and reviewing and just being plain awesome.

Love,

Bri


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